Autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) maker EHang announced it has received a pre-order for 100 units of EH216 AAVs from Prestige Aviation, an Indonesian aviation company and a subsidiary of Prestige Corp. It’s the largest pre-order EHang has received so far for its passenger-grade AAVs in Asia. Prestige Aviation previously purchased one unit of EH216 from EHang, and the two parties jointly conducted a debut flight demonstration for aerial sightseeing in Bali, Indonesia in 2021.
Bambang Soesatyo, chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly Republic Indonesia, said, “I am pleased to witness further reinforcement of collaboration between Prestige and EHang as well as their joint efforts to promote a broader application of solutions to Urban Air Mobility (UAM) to the Indonesian market. Coming next, we hope to explore more possibilities to facilitate the implementation of UAM in Indonesia, and to seek breakthroughs in infrastructure, airworthiness certification, and other related fields.”
Rudy Salim, executive chairman of Prestige Aviation, said, “EHang has long been a crucial partner to Prestige Aviation. As a forerunner of Indonesia’s sustainable transportation, we hope that we can address the Indonesian public’s need for aerial transportation and therefore, we are ready to support the Indonesian new capital Nusantara’s Smart City initiative with EH216 AAVs. Indonesia is an archipelagic country with more than 17,000 islands within its borders. Therefore, a new transportation mode that can facilitate inter-island mobility will undoubtedly help regional economies to grow exponentially, assisted by its low cost when compared to other conventional land routes. We will join hands with EHang to bring safe, efficient, economical and eco-friendly transport solutions to facilitate inter-island mobility and many other scenarios in Indonesia.”
Hu Huazhi, founder, chairman and CEO of EHang, said, “We sincerely appreciate all the support and recognition of Prestige Aviation and our expanding network of partners, which inspire EHang to further expand our global market. We will continue our in-depth collaboration with Prestige Aviation on UAM in Indonesia. We believe that, as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (“RCEP”) brings favorable policies to international cooperation, we will further accelerate the development of UAM in Asia Pacific region with the aim to benefit the people with cutting-edge AAV technologies.”