A flying taxi displayed at the China Telecom booth at SNIEC in Shanghai, on June 26, 2024, during the opening of Mobile World Congress 2024.Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesFlying taxis will become a viable method of transportation in China in the next three to five years, according to a senior executive at Ehang, a company that makes autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs).The prediction by Ehang’s Vice President He Tianxing comes days after the company became the first company, along with its joint venture partner Hefei Heyi Aviation, to obtain a certificate to operate “civil human-carrying pilotless aerial vehicles” from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.Ehang said the certification clears the way for commercial operations of its vehicles, allowing for paid human-carrying services and any other low-altitude use cases the company develops.At first, Ehang’s AAVs will be used for tourism, with passengers able to ride along designated routes in Guangzhou and Hefei by the end of June, He told CNBC in an interview translated from Mandarin.The company will gradually explore air taxi services as its tourist operations progress. He named Hefei and Shenzhen as examples of some of the first cities expected to get air taxi services.Ehang’s EH216-S, which received the certification, is a fully electric, pilotless two-seater aerial vehicle that features 16 propellers, according to Ehang’s website. It has a maximum design speed of 130 kilometers per hour, with a maximum range of 30 kilometers.He expects to get certifications to operate in additional cities this year and next, with the second set of locations for tourist operations expected to include Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Taiyuan, Wuxi, Wenzhou and Wuhan.For the forthcoming Hefei and Guangzhou locations, he declined to share the price per ride but hoped it would be reasonable enough to encourage more people to try out the pilotless aerial vehicle.The experience should be “just like riding in a car,” added He, noting that no helmet or parachute is required. He said the initial length of rides offered by the company would vary from around three minutes to 10 minutes.When asked about global markets, He said overseas partners had actively reached out since news of the certif …
