As Beijing bets on the growth of its so-called low-altitude economy, Shenzhen has launched a helicopter service from its high-speed rail station, a first for China.
Launching the service from Shenzhen North Railway Station is part of the city’s goal to build a low-altitude transport network that will connect 90 percent of the Greater Bay Area within an hour, the Shenzhen government said on its WeChat social media account on Friday.
The Greater Bay Area refers to the Chinese government’s plan to connect the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Chaoqing into an integrated economic and commercial hub.
In Shenzhen, a 314-square-meter (3,380-square-foot) helipad outside the station offers quick connections for passengers within the southern technology hub.
The service is operated by Heli-Eastern, a Shenzhen-based pilot company approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which focuses on servicing low-altitude airspace.
Under the new service, a trip on an Airbus H135 from Shenzhen North to Guangming Science City in Guangming District will take eight minutes and cost 9,800 yuan (US$1,348) for six passengers, according to the operator.
In comparison, driving can take around 50 minutes depending on traffic conditions.
The service is already operating within several districts of Shenzhen.
Shenzhen is one of several local governments investing heavily in the development of low-altitude aircraft, providing production and research and development companies in the field of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) with up to 30 million yuan (US$4.1 million). Grants.
The new service in Shenzhen comes after the local government signed an agreement with eVTOL aircraft developer Lilium, which will see the German company set up a regional headquarters in the city.
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A Chinese company has received the country’s first passenger-drone product certification
A Chinese company has received the country’s first passenger-drone product certification
Lilium, which counts Shenzhen-based technology company Tencent as an investor, said last month that it expects to fly its first drone by the end of the year.
The sector’s size is expected to grow 33.8 percent annually to 506 billion yuan (US$69.6 billion) in 2023, and is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan by 2026, according to a report by a research institute under the Ministry of Industry. and IT earlier this year.
Other local governments, including the central Shaanxi province, have also sought to jump-start their low-altitude economies by buying millions of yuan worth of eVTOL aircraft.