Two days ago, the "air taxi" made its first successful flight in Shenzhen. From Shenzhen to Zhuhai, it takes more than two hours by car, and the "air taxi" only takes 20 minutes. Behind the "air taxi" is a trillion-scale low-altitude economy. On the low-altitude economic track, why is Shenzhen leading again?
Low-altitude economy
This time the "air taxi" is called electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). eVTOL took off from the home port of Shekou Cruise in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and landed at Jiuzhou Port in Zhuhai, completing the first public demonstration flight of the world's first cross-sea cross-city electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft route. Taken together, eVTOL has three advantages: First, it saves time. Shenzhen and Zhuhai are located on the east and west banks of the Pearl River Estuary respectively, which takes more than two hours by car. eVTOL has a cruising speed of 200 km/h, point-to-point flight, and a range of only 20 minutes, which can save a lot of time. Second, comfort and environmental protection. eVTOL uses pure electric power, and the noise is one-tenth or even one-hundredth that of traditional helicopters, which is more comfortable and environmentally friendly. Third, the general moderate high. eVTOL takes off with a weight of 2000 kg and can carry five people, but it does not need a traditional airport and runway, can take off vertically like a helicopter, and convert to a fixed-wing flight mode in the air, which greatly reduces the threshold of popularization in the city.
According to the plan, eVTOL is expected to start manned flights in 2026 after obtaining airworthiness certificates. Industry insiders estimate that after large-scale application, the future price of a single seat from Shenzhen to Zhuhai will be about two or three hundred yuan. This is much cheaper than the five or six hundred yuan taxi fare. At present, Shenzhen has signed a purchase order for 100 aircraft, and plans to promote more route operations and commercialization scenarios. The reason why Shenzhen is so active is because it is eyeing a trillion-scale big industry.
This industry is the low-altitude economy.
The low altitude here usually refers to the airspace within 1000 meters of the vertical distance from the ground plane directly below, and can be extended to the airspace within 3000 meters according to different regional characteristics and actual needs.
The low-altitude economy is a comprehensive economic form that relies on the low-altitude airspace and is guided by the low-altitude flight activities of various manned or unmanned aircraft, and radiates the integration and development of related fields. Like the DJI drones that are now widely used in aerial photography, the drone delivery service opened by the United States Group in some cities, and the "Airbus" that is being explored as mentioned above... These are the categories of low-altitude economy.
According to experts' estimates, the scale of China's low-altitude economy will exceed 500 billion yuan in 2023 and is expected to reach 2 trillion yuan in 2030.
Shenzhen takes the lead
The successful first flight of the "air taxi" has made Shenzhen the first city in the world. In the field of low-altitude economy, Shenzhen is also at the forefront of the country. What advantages does Shenzhen have in developing low-altitude economy? Looking at the bottom of the family, Shenzhen has gathered the strongest drone industry cluster. The low-altitude economy is all-inclusive, including helicopters and hot air balloons, but the future direction of development is obviously drones.
Shenzhen is the most concentrated city in China's UAV industry, and consumer-grade DJI and industrial-grade Fengyi technology are located in Shenzhen. Data show that by the end of 2023, there are more than 17,000 drone companies actually operating in the country, with an annual output value of 152 billion yuan. Among them, there are more than 1700 drone enterprises in Shenzhen, with an annual output value of 96 billion yuan, accounting for 10% and 63% of the country, respectively, and can be called the first city of drones.
Shenzhen's UAV industry chain covers many links such as manufacturing, technology research and development, software development, and commercial applications. Extended by the UAV industry chain, the low-altitude economy industry chain also involves new materials, power batteries, chips, electronics, software information, unmanned and other industries. In these areas, Shenzhen is also leading the country. The strong industrial background has laid a solid foundation for the development of low-altitude economy in Shenzhen. Second, look at the policy, Shenzhen issued the country's first low-altitude economic industry promotion special regulations. Although the low-altitude economy is low, it still belongs to the airspace. Airspace, as we all know, is heavily regulated in China. Drone filming now requires an application. Without policy support at the macro level, manned and cargo flights are impossible.
To this end, on February 1 this year, the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Low-altitude economic Industry Promotion Regulations" was formally implemented, paving the rule of law runway for low-altitude economic take-off. The Positive Solution Bureau noted that it is clearly stipulated in the regulations that the municipal government shall organize the construction of a low-altitude flight service platform and, under the overall coordination of the low-altitude flight collaborative management mechanism, rely on the low-altitude digital management service system to provide low-altitude flight services and collaborative operation services such as flight declaration, flight intelligence, flight alarm and information release for units or individuals carrying out low-altitude flight activities. This will greatly simplify the airspace flight application procedures, improve operational efficiency, and release the development potential of the industry.
In addition to formulating laws and regulations, Shenzhen has also introduced support policies to subsidize low-altitude economic enterprises with real money and silver to promote low-altitude economic agglomeration. Three look at the application, Shenzhen takes the lead in the layout of diversified business forms. Just recently, the first route of the UAVs Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School has officially set sail. The new route can "airdrop" nearly 100 kinds of goods such as meals, desserts and juices into the campus, and users can send them to the front of the dormitory building in about 10 minutes after placing an order.
As of November 2023, Meituan drones have landed in 7 business districts in Shenzhen, opened 21 routes, provided drone delivery services for 19 community office buildings, 5 scenic spots and 1 hospital, and completed more than 210,000 orders in total.
In addition, China's largest general aviation enterprise CITIC Haizhi has opened the Shenzhen Bay City seascape air flight experience route in Shenzhen, as well as Shenzhen-Jinsha Bay, Shenzhen-Zhuhai and other intercity routes. In terms of application scenarios, Shenzhen has laid out a variety of formats such as UAV instant distribution, logistics transportation, low-altitude sightseeing, and air taxi routes, which is at the forefront of the country.
Looking at the market, Shenzhen is located in the Greater Bay Area. Policies, technologies, application scenarios are available, and finally it depends on whether the market buys it or not. In other words, which city can sustain a low-flying economy? Shenzhen is one of the most economically developed and affluent cities in China, which can afford to consume low-altitude economy. It is worth mentioning that Shenzhen is the city with the highest population density in China, reaching 7,173 people per square kilometer. The higher the population density, the more complex the construction, which also provides a good "test field" and a broad market for low-altitude logistics.
In addition, Shenzhen is located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with frequent personnel exchanges with Hong Kong, Dongguan and Zhuhai, and cross-city flight demand is strong. Shenzhen is transforming from the first city of drones to the first city of low-altitude economy.
Urban opportunity
In December last year, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed to build a number of strategic emerging industries such as bio-manufacturing, commercial aerospace, and low-altitude economy. Why can low-altitude economy become a national strategy? Combined with the previous analysis, here is a brief summary:
First, the industrial chain is long, covering many industries such as research and development and manufacturing, infrastructure construction, and service guarantee. Second, the business is rich, both for the industrial logistics industry, but also for the consumption of tourism industry. Third, it is widely used, in addition to industry and service industry, it can also be applied to the field of plant protection in agriculture. Fourth, the potential is huge, the future market size of trillions.
Overall, the low-altitude economy is expected to become a new engine for China's economy. For this reason, major cities across the country are taking the lead in laying out the "new track" of low-altitude economy. For example, Xi 'an, as the key town of the national aerospace industry, has a complete aviation industry chain, and has a very strong competitiveness in the new round of low-altitude economic competition. Another example is Nanjing, which was awarded the first batch of civil unmanned aviation test zones in China and the only one in Jiangsu in 2020. It has famous universities such as Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Rice Information, and has initially formed a low-altitude economic industrial ecology.
Another example is Chengdu, the large UAV ranks first in the country, the comprehensive competitiveness of the industrial UAV industry ranks the top three in the country, and the industrial advantage is very prominent. The development of low-altitude economy is not only an important measure for cities to implement the national strategy, but also a powerful engine to drive economic growth.
No. 1 low-altitude economy, who do you like?
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