China test-flies biggest cargo drone as low-altitude economy takes off (updated)
12/08/2024 06:06
(Adds helicopter trial runs; paragraphs 13-15)
By Ryan Woo
BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) - China flew its biggest-yet
unmanned cargo aircraft designed for civilian use, as the
world's top drone-making nation steps up test flights of
autonomous aerial vehicles (UAVs) that could ultimately ferry
everything from takeouts to people.
Packing a payload capacity of 2 metric tons, the twin-engine
aircraft took off on Sunday on an inaugural flight, state media
said, citing developer Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co.,
for a trip of about 20 minutes in southwestern Sichuan province.
China's civilian drone makers are testing larger payloads as
the government pushes to build a low-altitude economy, with the
aviation regulator seeing a 2-trillion-yuan ($279-billion)
industry by 2030, for a four-fold expansion from 2023.
The Tengden-built drone, with a wingspan of 16.1 m (52.8 ft)
and a height of 4.6 m (15 ft), is slightly larger than the
world's most popular light aircraft, the four-seat Cessna 172.
The trial run followed the maiden flight in June of a cargo
drone developed by state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China
(AVIC), the leading aerospace enterprise.
The AVIC's HH-100 has a payload capacity of 700 kg (1,543
pounds) and a flight radius of 520 km. Next year, AVIC plans to
test its biggest cargo drone, the TP2000, which can carry up to
2 tons of cargo and fly four times farther than the HH-100.
China has already begun commercial deliveries by drone.
In May, cargo drone firm Phoenix Wings, part of delivery
giant SF Express, started delivering fresh fruit from the island
province of Hainan to southern Guangdong, using Fengzhou-90
drones developed by SF, a unit of S.F. Holding 002352.SZ .
Cargo drones promise shorter delivery times and lower
transport costs, Chinese industry insiders say, while widening
deliveries to sites lacking conventional aviation facilities,
such as rooftop spaces in heavily built-up cities.
They could also ferry people on taxi services.
In April, aviation authorities issued a production
certificate to UAV maker EHang Holdings EH.O , based in the
southern city of Guangzhou, for its passenger-carrying drone,
China's first such document for an autonomous passenger drone.
In a report this year, the government identified the
low-altitude economy as a new growth engine for the first time,
with vertical mobility seen as a "new productive force" in areas
such as passenger and cargo transport.
On Saturday, a manned commercial passenger helicopter took
off for the first time from Kunshun, a city in Jiangsu province,
headed for Shanghai Pudong Airport, about 100 km (62 miles)
away, state media said.
For one-way fares of up to 1,800 yuan, Shanghai NewSky Heli
Co aims to cut travel time between the cities to 20 minutes from
several hours. As many as 30,000 passengers a year are forecast
to use the route, which opens on Aug. 18.
Shanghai aims to expand low-altitude routes to cover other
cities in the Yangtze River delta.
($1=7.1742 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
((Ryan.Woo@thomsonreuters.com;))