(Yicai) April 1 -- Chinese aircraft manufacturer Fengfei Aviation Technology, better known as Autoflight, has conducted the world’s first sale of an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft heavier than one ton, and its client is Japan’s earliest advanced air mobility operator.

The purchaser, which is over 100 years old, plans to carry out eVTOL mid- and long-range point-to-point urban air traffic demonstration flights in Japan, with the aim of offering air taxi pilot flights at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Shanghai-based Autoflight said today.

The five-seat eVTOL, which has a maximum take-off weight of two tons and can reach a cruising speed of 200 kilometers an hour, can take off vertically like helicopters without needing airports and runways, the Shanghai-based company said today.

In February, the air taxi completed its first public test on the Shenzhen-Zhuhai cross-city and cross-sea route, taking just 20 minutes to fly between the two cities. The journey normally takes over two hours by car.

It has already set a world record for two-ton eVTOLs by flying 250.3 km on a single charge. Autoflight was also the first operator to fly three air taxis at the same time last year.

Editor: Kim Taylor