Revolutionary flights in Bangkok: EHang starts pilot project without pilots!

Revolutionary flights in Bangkok: EHang starts pilot project without pilots!

A real milestone for aviation technology was reached in Bangkok last week. EHang Holdings Limited successfully operated its first human-carrying urban flight in the Thai capital on November 25, 2025. This particular flight took place as part of the AAM Sandbox initiative, which is a collaboration between EHang and the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT). Air Chief Marshal Manat Chavanaprayoon, Director of CAAT, was the first head of a civil aviation agency in the world to witness a pilotless EH216-S flight first hand.

The historic flight took off from Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) headquarters in Bangkok's central business district and demonstrated the EH216-S's potential to perform autonomous flights between different points in an urban environment. The event was attended by senior government officials as well as nearly 100 business leaders and media representatives, underscoring the interest and importance of this new technology.

Dawn of a new era of air mobility

EHang reported revenue of CNY 92.47 million (approximately USD 12 million) for the third quarter of 2025, but this compares to a net loss of CNY 82.16 million. Despite these financial hurdles, the company maintains its full-year 2025 revenue forecast of around CNY 500 million and plans to further advance the development of pilotless eVTOLs. By 2028, EHang expects to achieve revenue of CNY 2.0 billion and profit of CNY 314.3 million.

The success of the flights in Bangkok is not only a significant step forward for the AAM Sandbox initiative, but also a foundation for EHang's future commercial services in Thailand. The urban flights support international certification progress, although many challenges, including high operational costs and safety issues, remain to be resolved. In announced test flights, various scenarios were run through to validate safety and commercial feasibility.

Future plans and expansion

EHang has identified Thailand as a core market for its international strategies and plans to expand directly into popular destinations such as Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui. These steps are intended not only to cover sightseeing tourism destinations, but also to further improve the transport infrastructure. The planning also takes into account that Bangkok and other densely populated areas offer ideal conditions for AAM solutions due to their traffic congestion.

The CAAT pursues the long-term goal of establishing Thailand as an aviation hub in the region. The country is expected to represent a global model for the commercialization of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) in 2026, supported by sustainable transport solutions and a strong government commitment to innovative technologies. EHang is in the process of creating a comprehensive operational and regulatory framework to serve as a guide for other markets in Southeast Asia.

With the EH216-S, EHang has already conducted tests in 16 cities in China and obtained all necessary type, production and airworthiness certificates for its pilotless models. As we embark on this journey into the new market, it will be exciting to see whether EHang can overcome all these challenges. But one thing seems certain: the future of air mobility in Thailand is taking shape and a good hand could really make the difference here.

For more information about EHang and the AAM Sandbox initiative in Thailand, visit articles by Simply Wall St, Business Insider and AA International.