Zaragoza partners with EHang and becomes latest to join its growing UAM pilot city initiative in Europe
EHang has announced Zaragoza as its fourth pilot city partner in Europe, with the autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) developer to work with the city and promote the implementation of demonstration projects — for missions including passenger transport, aerial tourism and aerial logistics.
The agreement will also see EHang collaborate on urban air mobility infrastructure developments, such as command-and-control centres and vertiports.
Both parties aim to build an aerial transportation hub in the city and in future, EHang will conduct flight tests and pilot projects at the Hera Drone Hub and along the Ebro River — which is the largest in Spain.
Victoria Xiang, CEO of EHang Spain & Latin America, said: “Zaragoza is a crucial transportation hub city for Spain and for all of Europe. EHang is committed to make safe, autonomous and eco-friendly air mobility accessible to everyone.
“As the forerunner of cutting-edge AAV technologies and know-how, EHang will lead innovation and build a sustainable and efficient 3D air mobility solution for Zaragoza. The partnership will benefit the citizens of Zaragoza by making life more enjoyable and environmentally friendly.”
As the fifth largest city in Spain, Zaragoza actively promotes the development of urban air mobility as one of the members of UIC2 (UAM Initiative Cities Community) in Europe.
This partnership with EHang will also help the city develop urban air mobility (UAM) innovation Strategy and lead the expansion of UAM across the continent.
Jorge Azcón Navarro, Mayor of Zaragoza, said: “The partnership with EHang will further drive the city of Zaragoza to become a pioneer and leader in UAM in Spain and Europe.
“In the future, the general public can enjoy the view of the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, a national art treasure in Zaragoza, not only from an Ebro river boat but also from passenger-grade AAVs over the Ebro river.”
Zaragoza is the third Spanish city in EHang’s UAM pilot city initiative, after Seville and Lliria joined last year. In other developments across the country, Spain’s national air navigation authority, ENAIRE, plans to begin the first air taxi demonstrations in Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela by 2022. No details have yet been revealed about which eVTOL aircraft manufacturer will be involved in the flight testing.
Similar to its agreements with Spanish cities, EHang has also signed a similar agreement with Linz in Austria, where it plans to implement trial flights using its two-seater 216 model.
At the end of 2020, EHang received a long-term flight permit to conduct unmanned flights in Austrian airspace. A test flight in November 2020, which took off in St. Martin im Innrkeis, was also the first in open EASA airspace.