AutoFlight

Dozens of startups are racing to develop eVTOL air taxis in China. We pick the leaders.

China’s eVTOL developers have moved rapidly up the ranking of the emerging global advanced air mobility industry, displaying a pace of advance unmatched by even the West’s most aggressive startups.

Chinese startup Autoflight’s eVTOL cargo drone, the V2000CG CarryAll, has received airworthiness certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Volocopter rose to claim the second-highest slot in the April edition of SMG Consulting’s AAM Reality Index, boosted from its acquisition by China’s Wanfeng Group.

Chinese startup AutoFlight has signed an accord with Shenzen-based CITIC Offshore Helicopter and CITIC Financial Leasing.

Chinese eVTOL startup Autoflight has broken ground on a final-assembly plant in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

One particularly promising solution to battling wildfires like those in Los Angeles is the use of aerial firefighting with uncrewed helicopters.

The 2,000-kg (4,400-lb.) gross weight electric aircraft received its Chinese type certificate in March 2024.

Advanced air mobility startups in China are advancing quickly as Beijing drives to establish a low-altitude economy.

China’s battery giant CATL has agreed to invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” in AutoFlight, the Shanghai-based eVTOL aircraft developer.

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Ottobrun near Munich, ERC Systems is seeking to launch services later this decade.

Japanese nonprofit MASC has launched a project to commercialize advanced air mobility (AAM) in Japan’s Setouchi region.

AutoFlight’s V2000CG CarryAll received Chinese type certification on March 22, the first certification of a winged eVTOL aircraft in the world.

EHang returned to the top slot in the April 2024 edition of the AAM Reality Index, with a score of 8.5/10.

The Prosperity air taxi will be used for urban air traffic demonstration flights conducted in preparation for the Osaka World Expo in 2025.

AeroHT is developing the Land-based Aircraft Carrier, an all-electric, five-passenger off-road SUV that carries a two-passenger multirotor eVTOL in its trunk.

The CarryAll is the first version of AutoFlight’s planned Prosperity family of 2,000-kg gross weight eVTOL uncrewed cargo and piloted passenger aircraft.

Having seized the pole position in electric vehicles, Chinese industry is racing ahead in advanced air mobility.

Chinese startup Autoflight’s CarryAll uncrewed electric eVTOL vehicle is expected to be type certified by Chinese regulators in the coming weeks.

Aviation Week ranks the 15 leading companies in the nascent eVTOL market.

AutoFlight expects certification early this year.

AI leaders cooperate; Cargo eVTOL flies; UK extends R&D funding; and China’s firefighting eVTOL.

Lindsay Bjerregaard, managing editor for MRO, talks to Jocelyn Moreau, head of operations at AutoFlight Europe about the Prosperity, eVTOL aircraft.

To many foreign observers, the fast-growing Chinese advanced air mobility industry is a black box.

Zero Gravity Aircraft Industry has raised almost $14 million to fund development and flight testing of its ZG-T6 six-seat tiltrotor eVTOL aircraft