CAAC to expand flying areas, improve services for low-altitude flights

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Wednesday announced that it will expand the available low-altitude flying areas and improve the approval process, air traffic control, meteorology, communications and surveillance services for low-altitude flight activities.

The CAAC will also improve the infrastructure and operations at airports, build contemporary landing points, optimize the airworthiness standards for aircraft and upgrade the safety supervision system for low-altitude flights to meet the developing demand for the low-altitude economy.

It's the latest effort by Chinese authorities to accelerate the development of the low-altitude economy, which was written into this year's government work report as a new growth engine.

The low-altitude aviation sector has been experiencing rapid growth this year, with government support and the involvement of major enterprises, driving innovation and development in the industry.

In a recent development, Chinese telecom operator China Mobile announced on Tuesday that it has deployed the world's first low-altitude cross-sea 100-kilometer level 5G-A coverage between Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang Province, and Shanghai. This allows drones to deliver fresh seafood to Shanghai within just one hour.

On April 7, Ehang Holdings, a Chinese urban air mobility technology platform company, obtained a production certificate for its EH216-S electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft from the CAAC, a world first.

A number of cities have announced policy support for the low-altitude economy, offering incentives for emergency rescue work, logistics, air shuttles, cross-provincial commuting and special cultural tourism.

For example, Beijing pledged to have more than 5,000 low-altitude economy-related companies by 2027 that will drive the city's economic growth by more than 100 billion yuan ($13.81 billion), according to an action plan released on May 16. 

By 2027, it aims to add more than 10 new application scenarios and open three or more low-altitude routes to surrounding areas.

On April 18, Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province released plans to build the nation's first low-altitude demonstration zone. The city has started infrastructure construction for flying cars, which will include support for takeoffs and landings, parking and refueling.

Guangzhou aims to achieve a total low-altitude economy of 210 billion yuan by 2027 and 650 billion yuan by 2035.

The scale of China's low-altitude economy as of last year exceeded 500 billion yuan, and that's expected to rise to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to the CAAC.