The Chinese-made AS700 airship, a piloted civilian airship developed by China, successfully completed its first delivery flight on March 30.
China’s AS700 Airship Successfully Completes Maiden Delivery Flight
The AS700 airship took off from Jingmen City, Hubei Province, at 6:04 a.m. on March 30 (Hanoi time) and landed smoothly in Jingzhou City, also in Hubei Province, after a 106-minute flight. It stayed for a short time before returning to Jingmen, completing its first delivery flight.
The AS700 was developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country’s leading aircraft manufacturer. Designed with a single cabin and single-point landing gear, the AS700 is expected to meet demands for air tourism, emergency rescue, and urban services. The new airship has a maximum takeoff weight of 4,150 kg, a maximum range of 700 km, and a maximum flight time of 10 hours. It can carry up to 10 people, including one pilot, with a maximum speed of 100 km/h.
The flight on March 30 helped verify the performance of the AS700 comprehensively. “The flight completed all assigned tasks, fully verified the communication capabilities between air and ground, the capability of taking off and landing at different locations. The flight also helped test the support capabilities of the technical team,” said Zhou Lei, chief designer of the AS700 piloted airship project.
With thrust vector control technology, the airship can take off and land vertically in narrow spaces, significantly saving operating costs because land is currently very expensive, according to Lin Hong, the pilot of the March 30 flight.
The AS700 received certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in December 2023, becoming the country’s first independently developed and certified piloted civilian airship. According to Du Wei, project manager of the AS700 piloted airship, they have received about 20 orders, with the first one scheduled for delivery later this year. Du said the project team aims to use the airship primarily for low-altitude sightseeing and hopes to expand its applications to areas such as emergency rescue and urban public services.