Chinese electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developer Ehang has received a commercial operation qualification for its EH216-S passenger-carrying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), marking a milestone in the company's development as well as a breakthrough in China's policy in the area.

The EH216-S has obtained the type certificate officially issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Ehang said in an announcement today.

This demonstrates that the UAV's model design fully complies with the CAAC's safety standards and airworthiness requirements, qualifying it for conducting passenger-carrying UAV commercial operations, the company said.

As the world's first eVTOL type certificate, the EH216-S not only sets a benchmark for innovative eVTOL airworthiness certification at home and abroad, but also serves as an epoch-making milestone for commercial urban air mobility operations, it said.

This is more than 1,000 days past January 2021 when the CAAC formally accepted Ehang EH216-S's application for a type certificate, the company noted.

During the validation process, the EH216-S underwent extensive laboratory, ground and flight tests at specialized aerospace laboratories and test ranges at multiple locations in China.

These tests included main material performance, structural strength, crashworthiness, software simulation, ground control stations, flight performance and flight stability characteristics, according to the company.

The safety, airworthiness, performance, functionality, usability and reliability of the EH216-S have been tested through more than 500 specific test programs, more than 40,000 test flights for adjustments, and formal conformity validation tests covering more than 450 items in 65 major categories, Ehang said.