Passenger and cargo drone making company EHang feels it has moved the world closer to the movement of people by drones, after it completed the first pilot tests for passenger drone transport in the United Arab Emirates.

Carried out using the EHang216-S at the Falcons Aviation Club in Ali Ali, Abu Dhabi, the demo flights were the first of their kind to be carried out in the Middle East country.

Besides the passenger flight demonstrations, EHang also flew its fire-fighting drone, the EH216-F; as well as the EH216-L, which is the company’s solution for autonomous aerial logistics.

“The EH216 series pilotless eVTOL aircraft (including EH216-S, EH216-L and EH216-F) performed several autonomous flights at the Emirates Falcons Aviation Club in Al Ali, Abu Dhabi with the approval by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the UAE,” the company said in a statement.

“Mr. Mohamed Al Dhaheri, board member of Multi Level Group (MLG), EHang’s local strategic partner, took a ride on the EH216-S.”

And Mr Dhaheri, along with other stakeholders who witnessed the demonstrations – who included Emirati royalty, civil aviation authorities and government officials – were reportedly impressed.

“Being part of this historic moment is truly exhilarating,” Mr Dhaheri said.

“The seamless integration of technology and aviation represents a significant leap forward for our nation, and as an Emirati I am proud to be a part of it.”

EHang’s bid to expand its drone-based solutions into the UAE was made smoother when the company joined the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industries Cluster (SAVI), which is the country’s initiative for advancing smart mobility for land sea and air through embracing technological disruption in the industry, and giving the platform for non-traditional car manufacturing hubs to become significant players.

The Chinese drone-manufacturing company also established a strategic partnership with the Wings Logistics Hub last December, and further established a strategic collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and MLG in April 2024 to drive eVTOL development in the UAE.

“After securing the approval for passenger-carrying demo flights and conducting the debut flight, we will actively foster collaboration and communication between the GCAA and the Civil Aviation Administration of China to expedite the progress towards commercial flights of our pilotless aircraft in the UAE, which will become a milestone in the advancement of Abu Dhabi and the global air mobility sector,” said Huazhi Hu, founder CEO, and Chairman of EHang.

“With strong local government support and valued partnerships, EHang is poised to continue leading the change of UAM in the UAE and beyond.”

The company added that its recent successful pilot flights were representative of further solidification of its footprint in the UAE, which began by simple and short flight demos at the DRIFTx event in April this year.

The EH216 series of drones have been designed to address urban mobility challenges such as emissions and congestion, with features that include vertical take-off and landing capability, a compact fuselage, high redundancy design and intelligent cluster management, to enable safety and efficiency as well as scalable and eco-friendly air mobility operations.

The company is working in close coordination with stakeholders, partners and government entities in the UAE, to design and establishment of eVTOL vertiports, in preparation for the eventual launch of commercial UAM routes.