Flying taxis for $30 within three years. Chinese EHang ready to launch service

China's leading flying taxi company aims to launch air services from major airports within three years at a minimum cost of USD 30, as the race to deploy vertical take-off and landing electric vehicles intensifies.

This was revealed by the Financial Times, according to which the start-up EHang, the first company in the world to obtain approval from the airspace regulatory authority for the commercial use of unmanned eVTOLs, plans to first carry out tourist flights in the cities of Guangzhou and Hefei. The Chinese Civil Aviation Administration is restricting the service for now to trips that start and end at the same point.

But Conor Yang, EHang's chief financial officer, is confident that flying taxis will soon be used in a broader context, "not only for tourist attractions", he says, "but also for transport and public services". Yang, a former banker at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, predicts that EHang air taxi rides will cost between 200 and 300 renmimbi ($28-42), slightly more than a premium ride on a ride-hailing app such as China's DiDi, but less than a high-end luxury transfer. The strict regulatory requirements of the industry guarantee EHang a competitive advantage in the market for at least two years, according to the manager.

Airport transfers are supposed to be cheaper than tourist offers, because they would not be subject to the restrictions of closing times of scenic spots. EHang then developed software that, according to Yang, allows a large number of its EH216-S, unmanned egg-shaped aircraft for two people, to be used simultaneously. In Lleida, in Spain, EHang two years ago unveiled the first centre in Europe for the transportation of people in unmanned aircraft.