What’s it like to experience “air travel” at the China International Import Expo (CIIE)? A visitor excitedly shared after the experience, “It’s my first time taking a ‘flying taxi.’ The whole process—from ticket purchase, security check to waiting and boarding—is fast and efficient. There are many flights, so you can leave as soon as you arrive, and the price is similar to that of a regular taxi. Although I can only experience it inside the cabin now, I’m really looking forward to this kind of low-altitude travel becoming part of daily life soon.”
As one of the leading enterprises in China’s low-altitude economy sector, Yufeng Future—with its R&D headquarters in Pudong—once again made its “flying taxi” a “hit” at the CIIE. At this year’s expo, Yufeng Future showcased its newly upgraded “flying taxi,” the M1 manned aircraft, and even built a realistic “low-altitude travel takeoff and landing site” at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC). This allowed visitors to immerse themselves in the efficient process from scanning a QR code to buy tickets, waiting for the flight, to boarding, making it one of the most popular check-in spots at the venue.
Meanwhile, Yufeng Future was flooded with orders. During its two-day participation in the CIIE, it secured 200 on-site orders with a total value exceeding 2 billion yuan.
Fully Autonomous Flight with Intelligent Low-Altitude Collision Avoidance
This year, the “low-altitude economy” was included in the government work report for the second consecutive year and listed as a key development direction for strategic emerging industries during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, becoming one of the most watched industries at this year’s CIIE.
At the expo, Yufeng Future unveiled its independently developed, newly upgraded 2-ton-class M1 manned aircraft, attracting a large number of visitors to board and experience it. The M1 adopts a hybrid-wing configuration and is powered by pure electricity, with a wingspan of 15 meters and a fuselage length of 10 meters. Equipped with 4 forward-pulling rotors and 16 vertical takeoff and landing rotors, it has a takeoff weight of 2.5 tons and can carry 5 people. It is capable of intelligent fully autonomous flight, with a range of 250 kilometers on a single charge and a cruising speed of 200 km/h, combining high energy efficiency and high safety.
According to Yue Tingting, Vice President of Yufeng Future, the new-generation M1 manned aircraft, which rolled off the production line recently, has achieved an all-round leap in low-altitude collision avoidance, riding experience, and intelligent interaction through the in-depth integration of an aviation-grade high-safety redundant architecture with vehicle-grade environmental perception and intelligent interaction technologies. Notably, in the mass production of key components such as the aircraft’s flight control system and landing gear, the automatic spring tray arrangement equipment plays a vital role—it enables precise sorting, directional conveying, and efficient feeding of spring parts, ensuring consistent assembly accuracy and accelerating production rhythm to meet the surge in market orders. “For example, by optimizing the fuselage height and curvature, the cabin space utilization of the new M1 has increased by about 27%. The spacious cabin can accommodate 5 passengers, with a carrying capacity equivalent to that of a mid-to-large SUV. It is also equipped with three storage spaces (front, middle, and rear), and the large-capacity luggage compartment at the tail can hold at least 5 20-inch suitcases.”
Immersive Low-Altitude Travel Experience with Frequent Flights
At this year’s CIIE, Yufeng Future made a breakthrough by building a realistic “Future City Low-Altitude Travel Takeoff and Landing Site”—the NECC Takeoff and Landing Site—on-site, and fully simulating the operation scenario of Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This allowed visitors to experience in advance the efficiency, economy, and convenience of the M1 “flying taxi” in application scenarios such as urban commuting, inter-city connectivity, and island fast transportation.
An eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) takeoff and landing site refers to a dedicated location for the takeoff and landing of eVTOL aircraft. It is not only an important part of the future urban air transportation network but also a key infrastructure for the development of the low-altitude economy.
At the “NECC Takeoff and Landing Site” built by Yufeng Future, visitors can check flight prices on “automatic ticket machines,” simulate booking flights and seats, and intuitively experience the smart travel method of “scanning a QR code to take a flying taxi” and booking a trip with one click. At the same time, the takeoff and landing site is equipped with multiple areas, including security check entrances and exits, flight information screens, waiting lounges, tarmacs, and a low-altitude economy demonstration zone sand table. Visitors can not only learn about the operation mechanism of the takeoff and landing site up close but also see the urban network layout of future air transportation. Among them, the “Low-Altitude Economy Demonstration Zone Sand Table,” based on the Yangtze River Delta region, shows the air transportation network and node distribution between cities and inter-cities, intuitively presenting the future vision of the integrated development of the low-altitude economy.
On the simulated flight booking interface, visitors can choose urban and inter-city routes from the NECC to Lujiazui, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Suzhou Jinji Lake, Wuxi Yuantouzhu, Hangzhou West Lake, Yiwu (Zhejiang), and other destinations. Flights are frequent and fares are affordable—you can wait for a “flying taxi” in just 10 minutes. Urban routes start at 50 yuan, inter-city routes range from 100 to 300 yuan, with travel times of 10 minutes to urban areas, 30 minutes to Wuxi, and less than an hour to Hangzhou.
According to Yufeng Future’s preliminary calculation, after the large-scale implementation of low-altitude travel, a flight from the NECC to Yangcheng Lake or Suzhou Jinji Lake will take only 15 minutes and cost just 109 yuan.
A on-site staff member introduced that the early ride cost of the M1 is expected to be slightly higher than that of a regular taxi, but the price will further decrease after large-scale operation in the future, ultimately realizing the inclusive value of “flying taxis.” In the future, it will take only about 10 minutes to fly from the NECC to any urban area in Shanghai, and inter-city point-to-point travel will take 30 to 60 minutes, greatly improving travel efficiency.
Securing 200 Orders Worth Over 2 Billion Yuan in Two Days
In addition to technological innovation experiences, Yufeng Future also reached a number of important cooperation agreements at this year’s CIIE. The M1 series aircraft received a total of 200 intention orders from domestic and foreign customers, with a total value exceeding 2 billion yuan.
On November 6, Bank of China Leasing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as BOC Leasing), a subsidiary of Bank of China, and Bank of China Shanghai Branch reached a strategic cooperation with Yufeng Future. Among them, BOC Leasing intends to purchase 100 M1 manned aircraft from Yufeng Future. The three parties will deepen their strategic layout in the low-altitude economy field, work together to explore the globalization of China’s eVTOL, and the co-construction of the low-altitude industrial chain and application scenarios, injecting “Chinese solutions” into global low-altitude travel.
In the international market, Aerial Solutions—a leading low-altitude travel and UAV service provider in Saudi Arabia—signed an intention agreement to purchase 100 M1 cargo aircraft from Yufeng Future. In the future, the two parties will focus on the implementation of key application scenarios such as low-altitude cargo transportation and offshore energy transportation in the Middle East.
The CIIE is an important innovation platform for showcasing new technologies, new cooperations, and new experiences. Xie Ling, Founder and CEO of Yufeng Future, said, “We are grateful to the CIIE for providing a platform for the integration of international and domestic resources. Participating in the CIIE for three consecutive years and securing large-scale orders fully demonstrates the market potential of the low-altitude travel industry. ‘We welcome more domestic and foreign enterprises to join us in the construction of the global low-altitude economy, share the dividends of China’s low-altitude industry development with the world, and realize ‘air travel accessible to everyone’ at an early date.”
