Hong Kong Officials Start eVTOL Aircraft Flight Trials

Hong Kong’s Transport and Logistics Bureau has joined forces with its Civil Aviation Department to organize a so-called regulatory sandbox exercise to assess options for operating eVTOL aircraft. This week, the agencies selected Chinese manufacturers AutoFlight and EHang to conduct uncrewed flight trials in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

As part of efforts by the Hong Kong government to establish regulations for eVTOL air services, the project will take a risk-based approach to assessing factors such as the operating environment, timings for flights, the weight and payload of aircraft, as well as flying altitude and speed, and the reliability of GNSS-based navigation. The exercise is part of a wider effort to showcase technologies that could support China’s ambitions to develop a low-altitude economy.

Shanghai-based AutoFlight will fly its two-tonne V2000CG eVTOL aircraft, which achieved Chinese type certification in July 2025 and has already been used for some trial operations. This will be used for two of the four “Regulatory Sandbox X” exercises, with support from China Travel Service Automobile Services Limited and AECOM for route planning, flight parameter calibration, and validation.

EHang is deploying its type-certified EH216-S autonomous two-seat eVTOL for the trials. The company is working with local partners Kwoon Chung Smart Mobility and Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company. It said that the aircraft has already completed more than 90,000 flights and has been operating commercial services in Guangzhou and Hefei.