A New Future-Oriented Model

AS an economic concept， the low-altitudeeconomy aims to utilize the uniqueresources of low-altitude airspace in abid to develop general aviation or civiliannon-airline flight， and energize the relatedindustries from the sky to the ground.

The concept of low-altitude economy wasfirst proposed by China， providing a theoreticalcontribution to the development of global generalaviation. A common understanding is thatlow-altitude airspace is an equally importanteconomic resource and engine of productivityas land and marine resources. Expanding lowaltitudebusiness will help China fully developits general aviation.

With the innovative technology and productsof general aviation， new types of aircraft， suchas electric vertical takeoff and landing （eVTOL）vehicles or flying cars， have emerged， all ofwhich are designed for urban air mobility （UAM）and further stimulating people’s imagination forfuture development. By utilizing such productsand models in urban low-altitude airspace， itcan solve the problem of urban and intercitytraffic congestion.

As traffic jams are a global challenge， the proposalsince its inception has attracted widespreadattention from across the world. As China boastsmany big cities， the UAM faces greater demandsand prospects across the country.

Industrial Development

More than being just an economic concept，the low-altitude economy is also a developingindustry. Besides， from an industrial point ofview， it not only relates to the traditional generalaviation， but involves a broader range ofindustrial business and economic category.

Expanding from general aviation to the lowaltitudeeconomy is an upgrade from an industryto an economic model. General aviation isthe main industrial component of the low-altitudeeconomy， while the low-altitude economyincludes more investmentand construction of generalairports， vertiports， groundsupport facilities， and monitoringand flight service systems.It also integrates withother sections of the industrialchain， such as artificial"intelligence， new energy， and aerospace satellite，and develops in collaboration with those emergingindustries.

Based on general aviation technology， newproducts and innovative applications， the UAMhas much room for development. By cooperatingwith a ground traffic system， it will bring arevolution to urban transportation modes andintegrate the low-altitude economy into urbandevelopment. Then as it continues to develop， itwill boom a wide range of applications and forma unique economic form both in the sky and onthe ground.

A multi-layer flight network can meet theneeds of different flying activities by utilizingthe resources of low-altitude airspace. For example，it can be used in private flights， businessflights， short-distance air transportation， urbanair traffic， air emergency rescues， official andpublic service flights， operation flights， aviation"sports， sightseeing， and flight entertainment.

To ensure vehicles can smoothly take off andland， more infrastructure should be built onthe ground to complete the cycle of the wholeindustry. Such facilities include airports， vertiports，aviation parks， aviation towns， dronebases， flight camps， and aviation cultural tourismparks.

Supporting Policies

During recent years， there has been an increaseof attention in many developed countrieson the innovative development of generalaviation. The U.S. Congress passed AdvancedAir Mobility Coordination and Leadership Actin 2021， in which relevant government departmentswere urged to establish an interagency topromote the advanced air mobility （AAM）. TheEuropean Union （EU） also launched the HorizonEurope program in 2020 to support UAM-related"projects and enterprises.

As for China， the government has also supportedthe promotion of its low-altitude economy.In March 2024， the low-altitude economywas purposed in the annual government workreport as the new growth engine to fosteremerging industries..

The Communist Party of China said at thethird plenary session of its 20th Central Committeein July 2024 that it will further integratedreform of the transportation system， and developgeneral aviation and the low-altitudeeconomy.

In December 2023， relevant aviation departmentssolicited public feedback on draft regulationson the administration of airspace， whichmade institutional arrangements for the openingand utilization of low-altitude airspace.

In addition to government plans， many regionsin China have also focused on developing theirlocal low-altitude economy and making policiesbased on their region. For example， in China’ssouthern economic hub of Shenzhen， the governmenthas issued many supportive policies topromote the building of a low-altitude economycenter. At present， it has developed nearly 100commercial trial routes for drone cargo flights inthe city.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater"Bay Area， where Shenzhen is located， is one ofthe most congested areas in China. By promotingthe collaboration between air and groundtransportation， the UAM will be able to provideinnovative solutions to address urban and intercitytraffic problems.

Development Evidence from China

Although the development of traditionalgeneral aviation in China presently lags a fewsteps behind developed countries in Europe andAmerica， thanks to the rapid advancement ofits drone industry， the new form of low-altitudeeconomy stands at the forefront of the globe.

China’s leading drone technology has laid afoundation for the development of eVTOL andUAM. At present， there are over 30 eVTOL enterprisesin China， among which more than 10companies have received millions of dollars fromcapital market. Companies， such as EHang， Autoflight，and Aerofugia， rank top companies of theglobal eVTOL industry.

China is also leading the way in airworthinessmanagement. During the past two years， the CivilAviation Administration of China issued the TypeCertificate （TC）， Production Certificate （PC）， andAirworthiness Certificate （AC） for the mannedeVTOL EH216-S produced by EHang， which is thefirst eVTOL to receive three qualified licenses inthe world. In 2024， the administration issued aTC for a logistic eVTOL developed by Autoflight.

With the utilization of low-altitude airspaceand improvement of the operation systems in thefuture， China’s low-altitude economy will entera period of multi-tiered development， showing atrend of integration of operation， manufacturing，and services. It will also become a driving enginefor the investment and construction of infrastructure，such as general airports， vertiports，monitoring and flight service systems， as well asthe development of business supporting aviation，such as finance and insurance， aviation-themedcultural exhibitions， and scientific education，turning aviation into an industry worth trillionsof dollars.