China has officially entered the era of "flying taxis".
2 Chinese companies have obtained the commercial operation certificate for autonomous passenger drones from CAAC.
China is at the forefront of the world's 4th Industrial Revolution. pic.twitter.com/POFiLTs3I1
— Li Zexin 李泽欣 (@XH_Lee23) March 31, 2025
China’s drone taxi industry officially lifted off this week, as EHang Holdings and Hefei Hey Airlines became the first companies to receive certifications from the Civil Aviation Administration of China to launch autonomous flying drones for commercial taxi use. This development comes as China pulls ahead of the US drone industry—amid recent comments by Andreessen Horowitz’s Marc Andreessen, who noted that the Biden-Harris administration’s FAA slowed the US drone industry. It raises the question: Did the previous administration’s FAA deliberately slow America’s drone industry, allowing China to gain a strategic edge?
The South China Morning Post reported that China’s low-altitude economy has officially lifted off. EHang and Hefei Hey are dominating the skies with eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) taxi drones that can reach altitudes of 10,000 feet and transport two passengers across town.
“This marks the beginning of China’s low-altitude human-carrying flight era, allowing the public to book flights for low-altitude tourism, urban sightseeing, and more in Guangzhou and Hefei,” EHang stated on X, adding, “With this certification, EHang becomes the world’s first eVTOL company to achieve the full suite of regulatory approvals, paving the way for large-scale commercialization of autonomous aerial mobility.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/flying-taxis-officially-lift-only-china-thanks-bidens-faa