Shanghai is planning to have at least 400 low-altitude flight routes by the end of 2027 to help achieve the city’s ambition of building a “city of sky” featuring a complete low-altitude industry with the core industrial scale exceeding CNY50 billion by 2027. The Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission has unveiled an implementation plan for the high-quality development of the low-altitude industry in three phases. “With details and specific targets, the plan has drawn up a clear roadmap for the development of Shanghai’s low-altitude economy, providing support in various ways,” said Luo Jun, Executive Director of the China Low Altitude Economic Alliance. “Building an air traffic command network and ground service infrastructure, as well as continuously improving air traffic regulations, standards, and service networks will lay a solid foundation for the comprehensive advancement of the city’s low-altitude economy,” Luo said. The plan has outlined three phases for developing the low-altitude economy in Shanghai: a preparation phase, construction and trial operation phase, and optimization phase. Preliminary work, including the construction of the low-altitude flight service center and supervision and service platform, will be carried out during the preparation stage that is scheduled to be completed before the end of this year.
In the construction and trial operation stage, a low-altitude aviation system across the Yangtze River Delta region will be created by the end of 2025, and no less than 150 low-altitude flight routes will be in service by that time. The optimization and upgrade phase will be concluded by the end of 2027. By then, the low-altitude public air route network in Shanghai will have at least 400 low-altitude flight routes planned and established. Shanghai is set to form a complete industrial system covering research, development, design, assembly and manufacturing, airworthiness testing and commercial application of new low-altitude aircraft by 2027, according to the action plan. Shanghai’s vision is backed by a series of policies by the central government to support the development of the low-altitude economy.
“With the rapid development of drones, the BeiDou navigation satellite system, 5G communication and artificial intelligence (AI), China’s low-altitude economy has entered into a new phase of widespread application,” said Xiang Jinwu, Academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), at the just concluded first China Low-altitude Economy Expo held by the China Air Transport Association in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. The size of China’s low-altitude economy as of the end of last year was estimated at more than CNY500 billion, with its scale expected to rise to CNY2 trillion by 2030, the China Daily reports.
Meanwhile, Shenzhen-based United Aircraft has signed CNY1 billion in orders for its Lanying R6000, a small, speedy six-ton aircraft to meet the demand for aerial taxi trips and merchandise deliveries. The aircraft’s tilt-rotors are designed for vertical, helicopter-style take-offs and landings in spaces as small as a rooftop. The R6000, boasting a chassis similar in shape to a small plane, will be able to fly as fast as 550 km per hour for distances up to 4,000 km. Mass production will start early next year in Chengdu.
