Autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) maker EHang Holdings announced that AirX Inc., a Japanese air mobility digital platform company, has placed a pre-order for 50 units of the EH216 AAV, marking the biggest pre-order EHang has received in Japan. This reflects the growing recognition of EHang’s cutting-edge autonomous aircraft in the industry, EHang said. The pre-order of the EH216 AAVs is planned to facilitate various Urban Air Mobility (UAM) projects in Japan and may provide “air taxi” services for the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
As the leading helicopter service platform provider in Japan, AirX has developed and operated reservation platforms for more than 100 helicopter sightseeing operating routes and private helicopter charters. Annually, the AirX platform can book over 2,000 helicopter sightseeing flights throughout Japan and over 200 chartered flights. Since establishment, AirX has served over 15,000 chartered flight customers.
Tezuka Kiwamu, founder and CEO of AirX, said: “The low-altitude transportation and tourism market has great potential and broad prospects. By leveraging the advantages of autonomous flight technologies and centralised management, the EH216 AAVs can provide customers with cost-effective aerial sightseeing services, which is why AirX selects EHang as a partner in the global eVTOL market. We look forward to offering consumers safer and more convenient travel options with the EH216 in the future.”
Huazhi Hu, founder, chairman and CEO of EHang, said, “Our partnership with AirX marks a key milestone for us to further explore and develop the UAM market in Japan. We are very delighted to see an increasing number of air transportation partners are introducing EHang’s safe, autonomous and sustainable urban air mobility solutions to the general public.”