EHang announced the successful launch of an urban human-carrying flight event in Bangkok with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and local partners, under the AAM Sandbox Initiative. Air Chief Marshal Manat Chavanaprayoon, Director General of CAAT, personally boarded and experienced the experimental flight, becoming the world’s first civil aviation authority chief globally to ride the pilotless EH216-S on an urban flight. This marks another milestone in EHang’s global AAM commercialisation layout.
On November 24, EHang initiated the urban human-carrying flight event under the AAM Sandbox Initiative at the headquarters of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), a Bangkok landmark located in the city’s central business district. The event received strong supports from senior Thai government officials, with distinguished attendees including Air Chief Marshal Manat Chavanaprayoon, Han Kok Juan, Director General of Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Arak Sutivong, Deputy CEO of SCB X Public Company Limited, together with nearly 100 Thai business leaders and media representatives. Under widespread attention, the EH216-S completed a series of takeoffs and landings, as well as route flights. Air Chief Marshal Manat Chavanaprayoon and Dr. Arak Sutivong then boarded the EH216-S to experience a pilotless urban flight. The aircraft flew smoothly in the Bangkok’s core business district, with the Director General waving to audience, drawing extended applause.
These flights mark significant progress for the Thailand’s AAM Sandbox Initiative toward commercial operation and lay a solid foundation for EHang to deepen its presence in the Thai market and launch future commercial services. It also sets a benchmark for the path to commercialisation of the AAM industry in Southeast Asia.
Under the support and oversight of the CAAT, the EHang work team, led by Senior Vice President Hu Longxuan, who oversees commercial operations department, dedicated full efforts to ensure the complete success of this flight event. This marked the first time EHang conducted overseas on-site demonstrations and validation of the EH216-S’s comprehensive emergency scenario safety capabilities. During this collaboration, EHang and CAAT’s UAM team held in-depth discussions on four core pillars: flight safety, product technology, after-sales maintenance, and operating systems. Together they validated the EH216-S’s safety and commercial feasibility through nine extreme scenario tests and four dedicated technical exchanges. CAAT’s team expressed high recognition for EHang’s systematic support capabilities, including continuous airworthiness, full-lifecycle technical support, spare parts supply, professional talent training, and rapid maintenance support.
This overseas on-site demonstration and verification validated the EH216-S’s reliable performance under extreme conditions and its commercial operational readiness, highlighting EHang’s leadership in autonomous flying technology and end-to-end service capabilities. It establishes a solid technical foundation and regulatory trust, paving the way for the EH216-S to launch regular commercial operations under the Thailand’s AAM Sandbox Initiative.
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