No Pilot? No Problem! EHang's Autonomous Air Taxis Take Off In Thailand

China's urban air mobility biz, EHang, has announced its EH216-S pilotless electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft has completed debut passenger flights in Thailand.

"The flights mark a milestone for expanding EHang's eVTOL flight footprint," the startup revealed on Friday. EHang claims it has flown more than 50,000 flights in total.

The flights were made with permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) under a Demonstration Flight Permit. Among the first passengers were aviation execs – including one from Bangkok Airways.

EHang plans to complete more flight tests and launch commercial flight operations in destinations like Phuket and Koh Samui by 2025.

Suttipong Kongpool, director of CAAT, reminded attendees of the Thailand Drone Exhibition & Symposium 2024, where flights took place, that EHang's EH216-S is currently the world's only eVTOL with airworthiness certificates.

The aircraft has three airworthiness certificates from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

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The EH216-S is a fully autonomous, two-seater eVTOL designed for short-distance, point-to-point air transport. As an eVTOL, the aircraft takes off like a helicopter and has the ability to transition into an aircraft configuration mid-air. It has a cruise speed of 100km/h (62 mph) and a maximum speed of 130km/h (81 mph).

Its range and flight time, however, are quite limited at 18.6 miles (30km) and around 25 minutes. That range is comparable to Volocopter's VoloCity (22 miles, 35 km) but less than its VoloConnect (62 miles, 100km) or Joby's S4 (150 miles, 240km).

Earlier this year, EHang revealed the EH216-S would have a price tag of $410,000.

October's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Reality Index ranked EHang second place in terms of eVTOL development progress – behind Germany's Volocopter.

The industry has seen a flurry of activity of late, including the US Federal Aviation Administration's release of its final regulations for tiltrotors.

Last week, Toyota and Joby completed Japan's first air taxi flight test, while Japan Airlines announced it intended to purchase up to $500 million worth of electric aircraft from Archer. ®