Chinese unmanned electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft specialist EHang has opened its first European unmanned air mobility (UAM) centre in Spain.

Located inside the Lleida–Alguaire International Airport, the centre is the first-of-its-kind in Europe for unmanned eVTOL aircraft, setting a benchmark for the integration of eVTOL aircraft operations with airport infrastructure, air traffic management systems, operational procedures and other information technologies.

The inception of this UAM centre arises from a collaboration agreement signed between EHang and Aeroports de Catalunya in the field of UAM and could enable European aviation and airport sectors to be positioned at the forefront of global air mobility.

Last month, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued a type certificate for EHang’s EH216-S passenger-carrying unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV). The EH216-S is the first unmanned eVTOL in the world to obtain such certification and be qualified for commercial passenger-carrying UAV operations in China.

The EH216-S deployed at EHang’s European UAM centre will foster the accumulation of operational experience and knowledge. By integrating vast flight experience gathered from various locations worldwide, this collective information can be used for developing technology, regulations, processes and procedures for the safe and efficient integration of eVTOL aircraft into European airspace in the future.

The centre includes a vertiport that is compliant with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) design criteria and will enable seamless incorporation with the airport terminal, platform, control tower, equipment, procedures and regulations. This vertiport aims to set a benchmark for global UAM infrastructure and accumulate knowledge and expertise on the vertiport establishment and operations, which should enable intelligent eVTOL operating models and facilitate their smart deployment across multiple locations.

“The establishment of EHang’s European UAM centre marks an important step forward in the company’s international development,” said Huazhi Hu, CEO of EHang. “Through this world-class UAM centre, EHang expects to manifest its strong commitment with the development and deployment of UAM in Europe. EHang aims to share our certified and validated technology and operational experience with our partners around the world in the future to make our shared vision for benefiting all of society with safe, autonomous and eco-friendly UAMs.”

Marc Sanglas, secretary of mobility and infrastructure of the Catalonian government in Spain, added: “We are especially proud of the cooperation with EHang, a leading technology company, in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles in the world, to whom we are grateful for having chosen our international airport as their first European UAM centre.”

And Victoria Xiang, COO of EHang in Europe and Latin America, said: “We are looking at scaling its applications to advance innovative air mobility projects as well as Easa’s certification and airworthiness requirements to further promote industry development and make UAM a reality in Europe, which is a future we are looking forward to creating.”

EHang (www.ehang.com) has a mission to enable safe, autonomous and eco-friendly air mobility accessible to everyone.