An unmanned electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft made its maiden demonstration flight in Hong Kong on Friday, as the city pushes to develop a low-altitude economy, with the government aiming to complete drafting relevant legislation by 2027.
The flight marked a collaboration between mainland Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle firm EHang, local transport operator Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings and the city’s technology hub, Cyberport. The flight took place at Cyberport in Pok Fu Lam.
Kwoon Chung, which earlier revealed plans to buy 30 eVTOLs from EHang for more than HK$70 million (US$9 million), intends to deploy some of them for passenger and logistics services in Hong Kong.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said Hong Kong boasted a common law system and civil aviation regulatory standards that were fully aligned with international standards.”
“Mainland low-altitude enterprises conducting risk assessment flights in complex airspace within the city’s ‘Regulatory Sandbox X’ for the low-altitude economy can generate data and regulatory experience that can be directly translated into templates applicable worldwide,” she said.
A regulatory sandbox is a space where software or new technology can be tried out in a pilot scheme or test environment.
EHang’s flagship model, the EH216-S, carried a robot and conducted multiple sorties along predetermined routes, with public demonstrations set to continue until Sunday.
Chan said the successful flight marked “a key step” towards eVTOLs operating in Hong Kong.
She added that the government was collecting data through the regulatory sandbox to draft relevant civil aviation legislation for non-traditional aircraft, such as eVTOLs weighing more than 150kg.
“[The government] aims to complete the drafting of this legislation by 2027, thereby laying a solid safety foundation for the future commercialisation of passenger transport and the realisation of the Greater Bay Area air corridor,” she said.
The three parties signed a memorandum of understanding in 2024 to leverage their respective expertise to advance research and applications in Hong Kong of eVTOL aircraft, which was selected as one of the government’s Sandbox X pilot projects in April.
Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun, who leads a working group on developing the low-altitude economy, said more than 140 projects had become permanent since the sandbox scheme launched in March last year.
Wong said commercialisation of such projects was under way, covering areas including infrastructure surveys, the hoisting of materials, building monitoring and management, and the cleaning of external walls.
EHang chief operating officer Zhao Wang said the first public flight of the EH216-S in Hong Kong marked a “vital validation” under the sandbox model, serving as a practical test of the company’s technical standards and safety systems within the city’s regulatory framework.
The low-altitude economy refers to economic activities in airspace below 1,000 metres (3,281 feet), including goods delivered by drones and passenger flights using eVTOL aircraft.