An eVTOL is on display at the 3rd Exhibition of Technology and Education in Civil Aviation in Beijing on May 26, 2025. Photo: Chen Tao/GT

Several electric unmanned vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft makers are attending the ongoing 3rd Exhibition of Technology and Education in Civil Aviation being held in Beijing, and companies indicate that they are applying for the type certificate for commercial flights. 

"We are currently applying for a cargo type certificate for the M1 eVTOL aircraft. It is expected to complete the cargo type certification work in 2025, obtain a manned type certificate in 2027, and realize fixed-route passenger transport in 2030," Wang Shibo, a marketing manager of Zhuhai-based Vertaxi, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Wang from Vertaxi said at present, the speed of the Matrix 1 of Vertaxi is 200 kilometers per hour and the range is 250 kilometers. It is mainly used to address future short-distance travel needs such as urban commuting, inter-city interconnections and island interconnections. 

Wang's comment was shared by other players at the exhibition. Chen Yan, chief strategy officer of Zero Gravity Aircraft Industry (Hefei) Co, said in a speech on Tuesday that a multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft is on the way to winning the type certificate.

On Monday, Aerofugia said it had obtained the CCAR-135 Air Operator Certificate issued by the Southwest Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), making it the first eVTOL manufacturer in China with the qualifications to carry out long-term short-distance aerial sightseeing flights and irregular passenger flights of one- to nine-seat aircraft, according to the information the company shared with the Global Times. 

In October last year, the Aerofugia AE200 eVTOL aircraft completed a test flight in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. The company told the Global Times on Tuesday that the aircraft has won 340 orders from airline and leasing companies. 

In its financial report for the first quarter of this year, released on Monday, Hu Huazhi, founder of EHang said that the EH216-S has been granted the first batch of Air Operator Certificates for civil passenger autonomous aerial vehicles by the CAAC, and the VT35 has entered the type certification process of the CAAC.

The rising enthusiasm comes as the low-altitude economy, an important driving force of new economic momentum, has seen rapid technological and industrial development in recent years, making the sky below 1,000 meters across the country busier.   

Several major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Changzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, have launched a collaborative initiative to build a low-altitude economy ecosystem, aiming to develop 100 demonstration projects by 2025, the Xinhua News Agency reported on February 19, 2025.