On February 27, the Prosperity eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft simulated a family flying from Shekou Cruise Home Port in Shenzhen to Jiuzhou Port Terminal in Zhuhai, reducing the one-way overland driving that would typically take 2.5 to 3 hours to just 20 minutes.
This is the first public demonstration flight of the world's first inter-city, inter-sea eVTOL aircraft route, connecting two core cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) - Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and the round trip is over 100 kilometers.
The eVTOL route for this flight was operated by the strategic partner of Autoflight, Shenzhen Eastern General Aviation Co., Ltd, which has already signed a purchase order for 100 Autoflight Prosperity aircraft. In the future, they will use the Prosperity to operate more eVTOL routes, realizing point-to-point shuttles between Shenzhen and Zhuhai. After scaled operations, the shuttle price is expected to be comparable to that of ground private car services, with an estimated market price of around 200 to 300 RMB per person.
The eVTOL aircraft, also known as the "air taxi", can take off vertically like a helicopter without a traditional airport or runway. The Prosperity is a self-developed eVTOL model by Autoflight, with a composite wing configuration. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 2,000 kilograms, a maximum payload of 400 kilograms, a maximum range of 250 kilometers, and a maximum cruising speed of 200 kilometers per hour. It can carry up to 5 passengers, and its core modules have achieved 100% localization.
In the future, GBA will open hundreds of eVTOL routes and thousands of takeoff and landing points. The successful flight of the first eVTOL route between Shenzhen and Zhuhai marks an important milestone in the development of the low-altitude economy. The eVTOL aircraft technology will provide citizens in the GBA with a more comfortable, efficient, and cost-effective low-altitude travel option, and will also bring tremendous economic benefits to the low-altitude industry.
Editor | Fanny, He Zhen, Chen Xuan, James
Photos provided to GDToday
