by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby
EHang 216, the world’s leading autonomous aerial vehicle (“AAV”), has completed its debut flight demonstration for aerial sightseeing in Bali, Indonesia. The demonstration flight was carried out by EHang in cooperation with Prestige Aviation, an Indonesian local partner and Prestige Corp subsidiary.
The EHang 216 completed a five-minute autonomous flight at Villa Blackstone Beach in Bali. VIP guests who were in attendance for the flight demo included Bambang Soesatyo, Chairman of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly, Putu Astawa, Head of the Bali Tourism Office and Rudy Salim, CEO and Founder of Prestige Corp.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Indonesia awarded the EHang 216 AAV with the Special Certificate of Airworthiness prior to the flight demonstration, marking it as Indonesia’s first passenger-grade AAV approved for a public unmanned flight demo.
“We are entering a new chapter of transportation,” said Bambang Soesatyo, Chairman of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly. “As a modern transportation solution, EHang 216 will change our lifestyle in the future.”
“Prestige Aviation aspires to be the pioneer to provide smart city innovations with digital-based transport implementation,” said Rudy Salim, CEO and founder of Prestige Corp. “As an AAV, EHang 216 can become an effective, affordable mobility and efficient solution for Indonesian air mobility.”
“The successful flight demo fully showcased EHang 216’s potential for efficient island hopping and air transportation,” said Hu Huazhi, EHang’s Founder, Chairman and CEO. “We are pleased to join hands with Indonesian local partners to bring our leading AAVs and UAM solutions to Indonesia, one of the most promising UAM markets in Southeast Asia. Our global network of renowned and reliable partners continues to expand, and we believe this is a significant step for our sustainable, consistent success. We look forward to long-term business development prospects in Indonesia.”
Read more about aerial sightseeing, EHang’s long range passenger drones, drones for airport transportation and cargo delivery, and EHang passenger drones for emergency response.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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