China’s EHang Holdings has successfully completed the first fully autonomous urban eVTOL passenger flight, becoming the first company to carry a regulator on board a pilotless air taxi.
The flight occurred on November 24, 2025, in Bangkok and was conducted using EHang’s autonomous two-seat EHang 216, as part of the AAM Sandbox Initiative, collaborating with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and local partners.
The flight took place at the headquarters of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) located in the city’s central business district, EHang announced in a statement on November 25, 2025.
🚁 🚕 Could this flying #taxi be the transport of the future?
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) November 25, 2025
The company behind this vehicle, China's EHang, sure thinks so.
Envisioning urban landing points and stretching connectivity networks to neighbouring towns, they hope to reduce the congestion on Chinese streets. pic.twitter.com/GguUlQQt2M
The event was attended by senior Thai government officials, along with nearly 100 business leaders and media representatives.
Among them, Air Chief Marshal Manat Chavanaprayoon, the Director General of CAAT, personally boarded and experienced the experimental flight, becoming the first civil aviation authority chief in the world to ride the pilotless EH216-S on an urban flight.
“With the support of the CAAT, Thailand is highly likely to achieve the world’s first commercial eVTOL operations using an innovative regulatory approach of “sandbox”, creating a demonstration model for Southeast Asia and the world,” said Conor Yang, Chief Financial Officer of EHang.
Under widespread attention, the EH216-S successfully performed multiple takeoffs and landings, along with route flights. EHang reported that the aircraft flew smoothly in Bangkok’s central business district.
According to EHang, these flights represent a major progress for Thailand’s commercial operations and establish a strong base for the company to enhance its presence in the Thai market and introduce future commercial services. This also paves the way for the EH216-S to begin regular commercial operations.
According to plans, EHang will work with local partners to gradually extend its demonstration area to popular locations like Pattaya, Phuket, and Koh Samui.
EHang’s unmanned urban eVTOL flight in Bangkok was a milestone for self-flying passenger air taxis, while crewed eVTOL flights have already taken place elsewhere.
On November 16, 2025, Joby Aviation successfully completed the first ever crewed electric aerial taxi flight between two different locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).