Chinese autonomous air mobility company EHang last month demonstrated urban human-carrying flights in Bangkok.

Organised with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and local partners, under a sandbox initiative, the event saw Manat Chavanaprayoon, director general of CAAT, board and experience the experimental flight, becoming the world’s first civil aviation authority chief globally to ride the pilotless EH216-S on an urban flight.

The event at the headquarters of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), a Bangkok landmark located in the city’s central business district, received support from senior Thai government officials, with attendees including Han Kok Juan, director general of Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority, Arak Sutivong, deputy CEO of SCB X, and nearly 100 Thai business leaders and media representatives.

The EH216-S completed a series of takeoffs and landings, as well as route flights. Chavanaprayoon and Sutivong then boarded the aircraft to experience a pilotless urban flight. The aircraft flew smoothly in the Bangkok’s core business district.

These flights mark progress for the Thailand sandbox initiative towards commercial operation and lay a foundation for EHang to deepen its presence in the Thai market and launch future commercial services.

Under the support and oversight of the CAAT (www.caat.or.th), the EHang work team, led by senior vice president Hu Longxuan, who oversees the commercial operations department, dedicated efforts to ensure the success of the flight event. This marked the first time EHang conducted overseas on-site demonstrations and validation of the EH216-S’s emergency scenario safety capabilities.

During this collaboration, EHang and CAAT’s UAM team held discussions on four core pillars: flight safety, product technology, after-sales maintenance and operating systems. Together they validated the EH216-S’s safety and commercial feasibility through nine scenario tests and four dedicated technical exchanges. CAAT’s team expressed recognition for EHang’s systematic support capabilities, including continuous airworthiness, full-lifecycle technical support, spare parts supply, professional talent training and rapid maintenance support.

This on-site demonstration and verification validated the EH216-S’s performance under extreme conditions and its commercial operational readiness. It establishes a technical foundation and regulatory trust, paving the way for the EH216-S to launch regular commercial operations under Thailand’s sandbox initiative.

Since completing Bangkok’s debut flight in November 2024 and launching the sandbox initiative with continuous trial operations in October 2025, EHang has consistently advanced the initiative with a safety-first approach. The EH216-S not only maintained stable performance in a point-to-point pilotless flight but also demonstrated adaptability to Bangkok’s traffic congestion and tourism across typical urban environments. EHang will collaborate with local partners to gradually expand the sandbox area to popular destinations such as Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui, building a diversified low-altitude route network covering urban commuting and aerial tourism.

“The advanced technology and autonomous safety performance demonstrated by the EH216-S are impressive,” said Chavanaprayoon.

Conor Yang, chief financial officer of EHang (www.ehang.com), added: “This event represents a key practical achievement of EHang’s overseas strategy.”Watch a video of the urban human-carrying flight event in Bangkok at youtu.be/V4THaDyZzvI?si=VAA-NIF23nvpELnC.