A flight demonstration of the EHang 216 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle planned for November 21 in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur had to be canceled after the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) declined to grant approval. The Chinese company had intended to take Malaysia’s entrepreneur development minister Redzuan Mohd Yusof on the flight at the University Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology.
CAAM officials said they could not approve the flight because it was due to take off and land at a site less than 200 meters (656 feet) from commercial airline and helicopter traffic and within the Subang Airport Terminal Control Zone. The demonstration was part of efforts to secure Malaysian government support for urban air mobility (UAM) initiatives.
Instead of conducting the demonstration flight, EHang and its local partner, Eastcap Berhad, showed the aircraft on the ground to Redzuan and a group of VIP guests. The event happened a month after Volocopter demonstrated the 2X prototype for its planned VoloCity eVTOL aircraft in Singapore.
According to Redzuan, EHang is one of four companies seeking Malaysian support for their plans to develop and introduce UAM service with eVTOL aircraft. The others are local company Aerodyne Geospatial, an undisclosed UK company, and a Malaysian company with a manufacturing partner in Japan.
At Malaysia’s Langkawi Airshow in March 2019, Aerodyne Geospatial said that it intends to achieve a first flight with its Vector “flying car” by the end of December. The Vector has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,320 pounds (600kg), payload of 440 pounds (200 kg), and speed of around 38 mph (60 km/h).
