Chinese developer AutoFlight’s Prosperity eVTOL aircraft has made the world’s first cross-sea and intercity eVTOL flight from Shenzhen to Zhuhai in China.
Prosperity’s demonstration flight, which was uncrewed and fully autonomous took a 50km (31 miles) route from Shenzhen just north of Hong Kong, across the Pearl (Zhujiang) River Delta to Zhuhai, Macau and back. The flight took 20 minutes, a journey that would take three hours and 200km (124 miles) by car.
The version of Prosperity flown was a 5th-generation prototype, the same version being certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
AutoFlight plans to certify Prosperity for crewed passenger flights within two years. Once the Type Certificate is issued by CAAC, the company will start serial production at two facilities in China.
Prosperity is a five-seat lift + cruise eVTOL aircraft with a range of 250km (155 miles) and a maximum speed of 200km/h (155mph). The aircraft uses eight propellers mounted on booms that extend from its wings and two pusher propellers.
Autoflight is also developing a cargo variant of Prosperity called CarryAll, which has a payload capacity of 400kg and a firefighting version. The company said it has more than 900 pre-orders across all three of its aircraft models.
Cargo carrying potential
The flight took place in a region of Southern China known as the Greater Bay Area, which has a population of 86.7 million and includes Hong Kong, Macao, Zhuhai, and Guangzhou.
Last June, Autoflight signed an agreement with officials in Shenzhen within the Greater Bay Area to build a marketing and R&D center there. Fellow eVTOL aircraft developers EHang and Lilium made similar agreements with the city the same month.
The agreement also commits AutoFlight and the local government to explore potential routes for passenger eVTOL aircraft services in the region.
The route flown for the demonstration flight is one of 100 potential flight paths in the region that the local government has approved for eVTOL intercity operations. In the short term, plans are also in development to achieve 300,000 cargo flights in the region per year.
Federico Nordenstahl, AutoFlight’s managing director Europe and chief financial officer said, “The Shenzhen area is a perfect use case for both passenger and cargo eVTOLs. We are delighted and honored to be the first company to fly this route.”
AutoFlight’s current focus is the CarryAll, which achieved its Type Certificate in China last week, using three prototypes that made 156 flights.
Nordenstahl said, “We have recently completed all the tests required by CAAC for the CarryAll aircraft. Soon after that we will focus on our passenger version certification.
“AutoFlight is one internal team and every location contributes to the design, development and certification of all models. Our focus today is CAAC certification. Next, we plan to continue certification work and we are planning a flight in the Middle East.”
In March 2023, AutoFlight’s 4th generation prototype claimed a world record for the longest eVTOL aircraft flight on a single electric charge of 250.3km (156.4 miles).
AutoFlight, whose Chinese name is Shanghai Fengfei Aviation Technology is headquartered in Shanghai, China and is also working in Germany towards Type Certification with EASA, with the FAA to follow. The company has sites in Napa County, California and a European base in Augsburg, Germany.
Autoflight was founded in 2017 by its CEO Tian Yu. The company initially attempted to develop a two-seat eVTOL aircraft called the V600, and relaunched its testing and certification operations in Germany with the larger Prosperity I in January 2022.
