FutureFlight
Heli-Eastern Starts Trial Operations with EHang's EH216 eVTOL in China
The business aircraft operator will conduct extensive flight trials with EHang's EH216 autonomous eVTOL aircraft and its Bell 206 helicopters as part of a pilot program approved by Chinese authorities.
Ehang Shenzhen
Chinese aircraft operator Heli-Eastern is conducting pilot flight operations with an EHang EH216 eVTOL and a Bell 206 helicopter. (Image: EHang)

Chinese business aircraft operator Shenzhen East General Aviation (Heli-Eastern) is partnering with eVTOL aircraft developer EHang to launch urban air mobility services. The companies will work on plans to operate helicopters and EHang’s EH216 two-seat Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (AAV) in airspace cleared for these operations under a pilot scheme developed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the Shenzhen municipal government.

Heli-Eastern provides flights for a variety of purposes throughout China’s heavily populated Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and has approval for both commercial and private operations. With EHang, it has been conducting demonstration flights from its Shenzhen base with a pair of EH216s and a Bell 206 helicopter to demonstrate how the different aircraft types can safely operate in shared airspace.