Fengfei Aviation's 2-ton eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) successfully completed its first offshore oil platform material transportation flight, covering a distance of 150 kilometers in just 58 minutes; The Yihang Intelligent VT20 series logistics unmanned driving eVTOL, which loads seafood, spans three cities in 55 minutes, and the first ultra long unmanned aerial vehicle logistics route in the Greater Bay Area has been opened... Recently, multiple unmanned aerial vehicle transportation routes have been tested and opened, accelerating the expansion of application scenarios and continuously demonstrating advantages in intercity transportation, mountainous distribution, fresh food and medical supplies transportation, etc. The industry believes that drone transportation is currently in a critical stage of technological explosion and large-scale landing. Policy breakthroughs in low altitude airspace opening, technological iterations in battery and autonomous driving, and infrastructure improvements in takeoff and landing networks and air traffic control systems will become the core path to breaking through bottlenecks. Achieving a global breakthrough still requires cross departmental collaboration and industry chain integration. On August 3rd, Fengfei Aviation independently developed a 2-ton eVTOL "Kairui Ou" that has obtained model qualification certificate, production license, and single aircraft airworthiness certificate. It is loaded with fresh fruits and emergency medicine and other supplies. It took off from the land takeoff and landing point in Shenzhen and landed on the Huizhou 19-3 platform, which is 150 kilometers away from the Shenzhen coastline, after a 58 minute cross sea flight. It is reported that this test flight was jointly conducted by CNOOC, CITIC Sea Direct, and Fengfei Aviation, marking a crucial step for China in the application of sea land low altitude logistics scenarios. Compared to traditional transportation methods that rely on ships and helicopters, eVTOL has significant advantages in operating costs, response speed, environmental friendliness, comfort, and adaptability to limited takeoff and landing spaces. ”Xie Jia, Senior Vice President of Fengfei Airlines, said. In recent times, unmanned aerial vehicles have been catalyzing low altitude logistics incidents, accelerating the expansion of application scenarios, and continuously demonstrating advantages in intercity transportation, mountainous distribution, fresh and medical supplies transportation, and other areas. On July 30th, an Yihang intelligent VT20 series logistics unmanned eVTOL loaded with seafood took off from Tangjia Port in Zhuhai, Guangdong. After crossing 82.9 kilometers in Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Guangzhou in about 55 minutes, it accurately landed at Guangzhou Suigang Port, marking the opening of the first ultra long drone logistics route in the Greater Bay Area. Compared to traditional land transportation, this voyage can save about 60% of time. On April 14th, the low altitude logistics route operated by Hainan Dapeng Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. in the Qiongzhou Strait of Jiangdong New Area, Haikou successfully made its maiden flight. On April 1st, the Guangzhou Dongguan cross city low altitude logistics route was launched. Drones carrying cross-border e-commerce goods took off smoothly from Huangpu Comprehensive Bonded Zone and landed in Hexi Digital Industrial Zone, a water town in Dongguan, marking the successful completion of the first cross-border e-commerce low altitude logistics cross city route test flight in China. It is worth mentioning that from a regulatory perspective, support measures and policies for the low altitude economy are still being introduced one after another. In July of this year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China established a leading group for general aviation and low altitude economy work, promoting the development of the industry as a unified strategy for the whole country. Next, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will focus on development planning, aircraft airworthiness certification, market supervision, flight operation supervision, flight service guarantee, flight service dispatch platform construction, and safety supervision system construction to promote the safe and orderly development of general aviation and low altitude economy. Open Source Securities believes that China's low altitude economy has ushered in a vertical landing from macro level national industrial planning, to meso level local subsidies, to micro level infrastructure host bidding and application scenario building. In recent years, low altitude economy has become a new industrial track for the country's concentrated development. Supporting policies have been introduced intensively from the central to local levels, and airspace management reforms have been continuously deepened. The trillion dollar market is accelerating its release, and industrial chain companies are seizing opportunities. With the vigorous development of low altitude economy and the gradual maturity of eVTOL technology, low altitude logistics is expected to become an innovative solution for efficient personnel shift, emergency medical rescue, and rapid on-demand transportation of high-value components and materials on offshore platforms, greatly improving the operational efficiency and safety of offshore oil and gas platforms. It is predicted that by 2030, the scale of China's low altitude economy is expected to reach 3 trillion yuan, and innovative applications in marine scenarios will become an important growth pole. ”Xie Jia said. Zhongxin Haizhi is continuously expanding its presence in the low altitude economy, including drone services, and actively building a low altitude drone logistics network. In its 2024 annual report, CITIC Haizhi stated that "in terms of market size, the low altitude economy has shown a strong growth trend. It is expected that by 2025, the market size of the low altitude economy will reach 1.5 trillion yuan; by 2035, it is expected to exceed 3.5 trillion yuan. This high-speed growth trend reflects the increasingly prominent strategic position of the low altitude economy in the national economic structure and has become a new engine for promoting economic development." In the low altitude field, Wanfeng Aowei focuses on the research and development, manufacturing, and sales of "fixed wing+vertical takeoff and landing aircraft+unmanned aerial vehicles" complete machines, building a multi product and multi scenario product travel matrix. The drone product developed based on eVTOL technology can carry up to 200 kilograms of cargo within a range of 40 kilometers, and will be deployed in areas that are difficult to reach by traditional transportation methods. It can also be extended to existing land or sea logistics infrastructure, thus building a new supply chain and transportation route. The "Flying Treasure" project, developed by Dongxin Heping, proposes a systematic solution to address security control challenges in scenarios such as drone logistics and cross-border collaboration. Dongxin Heping stated that the company will continue to deepen cooperation with global partners, explore the international output of low altitude safety standards, and plan to apply the "Flight Guard" technology to more regions to promote the development of low altitude economy and help build a low altitude safety system. The national strategy focuses on the new track of low altitude economy, and local governments are accelerating policy support and resource allocation. Application scenarios such as low altitude logistics and low altitude tourism are taking the lead, and multiple strategic cooperation and commercial orders are intensively landing. The trend of large-scale development of the industrial chain is gradually emerging. Suggest focusing on the four main lines of components, complete machines, infrastructure support, and air traffic control operations. ”Southwest Securities stated in its research report. The industry ecosystem still needs to be improved. The industry believes that unmanned aerial vehicle transportation is currently in a critical stage of technological explosion and large-scale landing. Policy breakthroughs in low altitude airspace opening, technological iterations in battery and autonomous driving, and infrastructure improvements in takeoff and landing networks and air traffic control systems will become the core path to breaking through bottlenecks. Related enterprises in the industrial chain need to establish sustainable development models in standardization, deep cultivation of scenarios, and public communication. The application of large and medium-sized drones in the field of logistics and express delivery will become increasingly normalized, and the business model is relatively mature. However, at present, due to insufficient opening of airspace resources, incomplete supporting service networks, and lack of industry ecology, the application and promotion of drones in logistics and express delivery are limited. ”Luo Jun, Chairman of the Future Low altitude Economic Innovation Center in Sichuan Tianfu New Area, said. The issue of security prevention and control in the rapid development of low altitude economy has also attracted industry attention. On August 11th, ZTE Corporation and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology jointly released the "Blue Book on the Application of Low altitude Security Fusion Perception Technology", which believes that currently, low altitude security is still in the early stages of development in terms of demand indicator construction, technical means supply, infrastructure construction, etc., and it is urgent for all parties in the industry to strengthen research and practical exploration. ZTE believes that in the future, low altitude security will benefit from the joint promotion of technology and policies, gradually developing towards the direction of "global perception, intelligent decision-making, and collaborative prevention and control". At the technical level, 5G-A sensing technology continues to mature and evolve towards 6G, and the continuous development of AI intelligent recognition and large-scale model applications will enhance the technical capabilities of low altitude security; At the policy level, multiple departments of the country collaborate to promote policies, improve standards and regulations, ensure that there are laws to follow, and law enforcement must be strict, allowing black flying drones to hide without a place and compliant drones to swim at low altitudes. (New Society)