Sightseeing rides in pilotless 'flying taxis' on the horizon in China

Service may soon open to the public in Guangzhou and Hefei in a potential world first

- Joyce ZK Lim

GUANGZHOU-Sixteen propeller blades, in sets of two, whir, growing faster and louder. Then, the "air taxi" lifts off.

It rises vertically off the ground, one gutsy passenger strapped in, as a throng of journalists watch on.

He is alone in the two-seater cabin, several storeys high, with no pilot in sight.

This scene, seemingly from the future, is very much in the present, taking place on a recent Tuesday in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province.

It is a sight that EHang, the company behind the autonomous "flying taxi", hopes will become more commonplace in China and around the world.

"In the future, we want to provide such a means of transport that is as normalised as cars," EHang's vice-president He Tianxing told visiting reporters at the company's Guangzhou headquarters on June 10.

That future is, for now, still years away.

But the leading Chinese maker of autonomous aerial vehicles or drones as they are more commonly known which transport goods, among other uses, is moving closer towards the commercial use of its drones to carry people, with a big milestone on the horizon.

In the cities of Guangzhou and Hefei, the capital of central Anhui province, people will soon be able to buy tickets to sightsee in EHang's flying vehicles, in what could be a world first.

An EHang subsidiary in Guangzhou and its joint venture company in Hefei in late March received China's first certificates to operate paid services carrying people in the two cities.

They are now trialling rides in these locations, allowing staff and invited guests to have a go in the flying vehicle also described as an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft - EHang said.

Thereafter, they plan to open ticket sales to the public.

One of the routes will allow people to take in river views from above a wharf in Guangzhou, while another will fly over a park in Hefei.