Chinese aviation start-up AutoFlight, backed by electric vehicle (EV) battery firm Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), unveiled Matrix, a five-ton class electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which it described as the largest of its kind in the world after completing a flight demonstration at a testing facility in Kunshan, a city neighboring Shanghai. The aircraft, with a 20-meter wingspan, 17.1 meters long by 3.3 m high, comes in two variants for passenger transport and heavy-duty logistics. It can carry 10 passengers, a leap in scale for an industry that has largely focused on smaller airframes weighing between 1.5 tons and 3 tons with capacities of four to six passengers. AutoFlight joins peers including Ehang, Xpeng’s flying car unit Aridge and Geely’s Aerofugia as China’s major players in commercial eVTOL applications. The country is moving quickly to set standards for domestic makers and operators, aiming to regulate the skies as the low-altitude economy takes shape.
Earlier last week, 10 government departments, including the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the Ministry of Transport, jointly released guidelines to establish basic standards by 2027 and more than 300 standards by 2030. These will cover five core areas: aircraft, infrastructure, air traffic management, safety supervision and applications. Founded in 2017, AutoFlight was currently focused on cargo transport, but saw strong potential in passenger flights, said Xie Jia, Senior Vice President of AutoFlight, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
