Japanese city establishes urban air mobility centre

Tsukuba City in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture is working with EHang to establish the country’s first urban air mobility (UAM) centre.

The facility will serve as a demonstration flight site, ground infrastructure, and maintenance base for the UAM specialist’s various pilotless electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the region, including EH216-S.

Air mobility platform

During the inauguration ceremony, attended by Tatsuo Igarashi, mayor of Tsukuba City, the EH216-S pilotless eVTOL successfully completed its first flight in the Kanto region for aerial sightseeing.

The establishment of the UAM Centre is the result of a strategic partnership between EHang and AirX, a Japanese air mobility digital platform company. Situated on the site of the former Helicopter Control and Command Centre owned by Ibaraki Prefectural Government, the UAM Centre houses hangars with capacity for approximately 25 units of EH216-S aircraft.

“Looking ahead, AirX is gearing up to launch additional UAM Centres in Tokyo, solidifying our commitment to spearheading the development of UAM and transforming the future of transportation in Japan”

The shared landing platform, used by both helicopters and eVTOLs, covers an area of around 30,000 square metres. Developed by AirX in collaboration with Tsukuba Airlines, the UAM Centre is designed to meet the evolving needs of next-generation air mobility that encompasses pilotless eVTOL aircraft, helicopters and private jets.

EHang has been actively expanding its presence in the global market. To date, the EH216-S pilotless eVTOL aircraft has successfully conducted flights across 12 cities in Japan, demonstrating various use cases, including aerial sightseeing, island transportation, aerial logistics, and emergency services.