Shanghai aims to develop a complete industrial system for low-altitude aircraft

A passenger arrives by helicopter at the Xingye base on Aug 18, 2024. YIN LIQIN/CHINA NEWS SERVICE

An interprovincial low-altitude passenger transport route connecting Shanghai Pudong International Airport with the Kunshan City Terminal in neighboring Jiangsu province commenced commercial operations on Aug 18.

The inaugural flight, carrying two passengers, left Kunshan at 8:30 am and landed at the Pudong district's Xingye aviation base 28 minutes later. The passengers were then transferred to Pudong airport by car, which took about 25 minutes.

Operated by Shanghai Newsky Helicopter Co, the air taxi service halves travel time between Shanghai and Kunshan.

"From boarding the helicopter to reaching the airport gate, the entire process takes just 60 minutes," Cao Xintian, the chairman of Shanghai Newsky, said. "This allows Kunshan residents to leave home as late as 8:15 am and still comfortably catch a 10 am flight from Pudong."

The Bell 505 helicopter used for the service is a single-engine, five-seat light helicopter with a maximum speed of 231 kilometers per hour and a range of 566 km. The seating arrangement is similar to that of a car, with two seats in front and three in the back, accommodating up to four passengers in addition to the pilot.

During the introductory phase, one-way fares are set at 1,600 or 1,800 yuan ($223 to $251) per seat, including the helicopter transfer and personalized airport service upon arrival. Cao said that the pricing was two to three times the cost of a business ride-hailing service.

Wu Zhihui, deputy director of the general aviation division of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's East China regional administration, said the service's "air-ground-air "model is a first for China.

One passenger, surnamed Ji, who was catching an afternoon flight to Taoyuan in Taiwan, described the journey as smooth and comfortable.

"The helicopter ride was pleasant, with minimal noise thanks to the earphones, and there was ample space," she said.

The other passenger, a Kunshan resident surnamed Yu, originally planned to take a bus to Pudong for her flight to Xiamen, Fujian province, but decided to participate in the inaugural helicopter flight when she heard the service was being launched.

"I've never experienced helicopter travel before, so I decided to give it a try," she said, adding it allowed her to leave much later than if she was catching the bus.

Bookings are now available through online travel platforms such as Trip.com. The company plans to operate regular flights from Shanghai to Kunshan at 8 am and 4 pm daily, with return flights 30 minutes later, subject to weather and airspace conditions.

It also plans to expand the model to cover more cities in the Yangtze River Delta region.

"We're starting with areas that are within a two-hour drive or 25-minute helicopter flight from Pudong airport," Cao said. "As market demand grows, we'll expand our coverage accordingly."

The launch of the service aligns with Shanghai's recently released action plan on the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy between 2024 and 2027. The plan outlines support for various aspects of the industry, including enterprise cultivation, infrastructure construction and commercial applications.

According to the plan, by 2027, Shanghai aims to establish a complete industrial system for low-altitude aircraft, with the core industry expected to reach a scale of over 50 billion yuan. The city plans to cultivate leading enterprises in niche markets such as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, industrial drones and new energy general aviation aircraft.

Shanghai will also cooperate with cities across the Yangtze River Delta region to build the nation's first batch of cities with low-altitude aviation availability, establishing a national low-altitude economy demonstration area and becoming an internationally influential "city of the sky" at an accelerated speed, the action plan said.

The low-altitude economy was mentioned for the first time in this year's Government Work Report, which described it as a "new growth engine".