EHang forges new partnership with Aerotree, deal includes pre-order for 60 eVTOL

Chinese startup EHang has landed a deal with Malaysian aviation company Aerotree that would see the two partners develop urban air mobility (UAM) operations in the country, including training, as well as maintenance, repair, and overhaul services.

The agreement also includes a pre-order of 50 units from the EH216 series and 10 units of the VT-30 aircraft. Aerotree had previously purchased one unit of the EH216-S from EHang.

This is the largest pre-order for EHang in Malaysia, and comes after the company closed a deal with AirX earlier this year, which included a pre-order of 50 EH216 eVTOL aircraft that would be added to the helicopter flight booking company’s network in Japan.

“We are pleased to enter the Malaysian market and increase our presence there through our cooperation with Aerotree,” said Huazhi Hu, founder, chair and CEO of EHang, in a press release. “Our comprehensive AAV [autonomous aerial vehicle] products and solutions are well suited to a variety of intracity and intercity UAM use cases in Malaysia.”

EHang’s EH216 series — the first aircraft that the company plans to get type certified with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) — includes a two-seat EH216-S AAV for passenger services and aerial sightseeing, as well as an EH216-F model for firefighting and EH216-L model for aerial logistics.

In addition to the EH216 series, the eVTOL company is also developing the VT-30, an autonomous lift-plus-cruise winged aircraft that can carry out longer range missions than the EH216 multicopter.