EHang to perform flight tests in Europe next year after joining urban air mobility initiative
EHang has joined the Air Mobility Urban — Large Experimental Demonstration (“AMU-LED”) project and will conduct flight tests using its eVTOL aircraft in the Netherlands, Spain and the UK throughout next year.
The AMU-LED is one of the largest European demonstrations of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and planned for two years with more than 100 flight hours. The consortium executing the project includes 17 prominent companies across the world, including aerospace giant Airbus.
As a H2020 project of the European Union framed in the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking, the ultimate goal of AMU-LED is to showcase one of the largest demonstrations of mobility services with air vehicles and the safe integration of different types of drone operations.
AMU-LED kicked off this month and will showcase various use cases including passenger transport in air taxis, cargo transport, delivery of goods and medical equipment and emergency services support.
Through the programme, EHang will increase its interaction with European regulatory bodies, including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and EUROCONTROL. This cooperative effort should pave the way for the formulation of relevant UAM policies and standards and contribute to the implementation of UAM in Europe
EHang has been making steady progress in the European market and already achieved multiple milestones on the continent. In 2020, the company made great regulatory breakthroughs by obtaining flight permits for its flagship, two-seater 216 eVTOL aircraft from the civil aviation authorities of Norway and Austria.
So far it has expanded its UAM Pilot City Initiative to three cities in Austria and Spain, and established strategic UAM partnerships with FACC, the leading Austrian aerospace company, and Vodafone, one of the world’s biggest telecoms and technology service providers.
