China officially issued the world’s first certification for an autonomous and electric flying taxi on Friday, the manufacturer announced, a sign of the potential imminent approval of commercial operation of the vehicles across the country, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

This “type certificate”, which confirms the device’s safety and airworthiness, was issued for an aircraft built by Chinese startup EHang, one of the world leaders in the booming urban air mobility sector.

It is the world’s first eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft) to receive such a certificate, the company said.

“The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has issued a type certificate for the EH216-S unmanned aerial system,” the agency said in a statement.

The document states that the vehicle “meets airworthiness requirements” and “has safety capabilities for manned operations” (with people on board – ed.), the CAAC specified.

Requesting a printed certificate is a lengthy and expensive process, but once received, it opens the door wide for the general public to use this type of aircraft.

A Chinese company says it hopes to launch self-piloted flying taxis soon

“This model will be subject to operational qualification tests and will be officially put into commercial operation after meeting the requirements,” the CAAC also reported.

Does this mean we will soon see passengers paying for tickets on these planes in the skies of China?

“We hope to be the first in the world in the short term to launch the commercial operation of an eVTOL with an autopilot,” said Hu Huachi, founder and CEO of EHang.

The Chinese company, which is considered one of the world leaders in the field of urban air mobility, was founded in 2014 and was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2019.

Its headquarters is located in the metropolis of Guangzhou in southern China.