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Our reporter Wen Chong and Yu Jianping from Beijing reported

On August 3, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Service Consumption", which explicitly mentioned encouraging the development of new "low-altitude flight" business in terms of tourism task deployment. From the first time the low-altitude economy was written into the government work report to the recent frequent policies and measures of central ministries and local governments, the low-altitude economy has received continuous attention from all walks of life and has been very popular in the capital market.

On August 5, a reporter from China Times learned from Xiaopeng Huitian that Xiaopeng Huitian received $150 million in B1 round financing and started B2 round financing. A week ago, Geely Wofei Changkong also just completed B+ round financing. The agency believes that the low-altitude economic industry is in a period of dual resonance of "policy + accelerated commercialization of new products", and industrialization and commercialization are gradually approaching.

With the increasing number of general airports and the increasing number of industrialization and commercialization, obtaining a pilot's license has become increasingly popular. So, what are the learning conditions and application fees?

"Policy wave" continues to promote high-quality development

On August 3, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Service Consumption", which put forward 20 key tasks in six areas. Among them, it clearly mentioned in the tourism field that "encouraging the development of new business forms such as cruise ships, yachts, RV camping, and low-altitude flights."

This is one of the important policies recently released to promote the development of the low-altitude economy. Prior to this, the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" reviewed and approved at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made systematic arrangements for "improving the system and mechanism for modern infrastructure construction", which specifically mentioned "developing general aviation and low-altitude economy".

Shan Zhiguang, director of the Information and Industrial Development Department of the National Information Center and director of the Future Industry and Platform Economy Research Center, said that the low-altitude economy is an important direction for cultivating new development momentum, an important track for strategic emerging industries, and a typical representative of new quality productivity. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the development of the low-altitude economy and officially list the low-altitude economy as one of the strategic emerging industries. All provinces and cities actively responded to the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, launched "low-altitude power pursuit" and "space speed competition", and vigorously promoted the strengthening and optimization of the low-altitude economy.

In July, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places have successively issued relevant policies to promote the development of low-altitude economy. Since the beginning of this year, more than 10 provinces and cities, including Beijing, Suzhou and Chengdu, have initiated and established low-altitude economic industry funds, with fund sizes ranging from 1 billion to 20 billion yuan. Last week, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other places also held conferences on the high-quality development of the low-altitude economic industry to clarify the development tasks of flying cars in provinces and cities.

For example, at the Shenzhen Low-altitude Economy High-quality Development Conference held on August 2, the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission issued the "Shenzhen Low-altitude Take-off and Landing Facilities High-quality Construction Plan", which clearly stated that by the end of 2025, more than 1,000 low-altitude aircraft take-off and landing platforms will be built, and low-altitude flight service guarantees will reach international advanced levels; by 2025, the proportion of open drone-friendly airspace in the city will exceed 75%, and the total number of low-altitude commercial routes will exceed 1,000.

CITIC Securities Research Report believes that recently, the central ministries and local governments have frequently taken policy measures and continued to support the development of the low-altitude economy, which has kept the low-altitude economy in high attention and vigorous development. Guojin Securities Research Report also believes that the low-altitude economy industry will continue to benefit and the industry orders are expected to arrive faster.

According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration, in the first half of this year, more than 600,000 drones were newly registered in my country, and the total number of drones increased by 48% compared with the end of last year. The cumulative flight hours of drones reached 9.816 million hours, an increase of 134,000 hours over the same period last year. It is estimated that by 2025, the market size of the low-altitude economy will reach 1.5 trillion yuan, and is expected to reach 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.

Shan Zhiguang said: "With the deep integration of digital technology and the low-altitude economy, the development of the low-altitude economy has shown new trends such as integrated communication perception, integration of cutting-edge technologies, diversified application scenarios, economic application of industries, and coordinated industrial chains. The development momentum is rapid and the space is broad. Low-altitude infrastructure is an important support for the development of the low-altitude economy. With the continuous increase in application scenarios and the continuous release of business needs, the demand for low-altitude infrastructure construction will continue to increase, and it is continuing to breed huge investment value and market growth potential."

"Funding fever", product commercialization process continues to accelerate

The low-altitude economic market, which continues to breed huge investment value and market growth potential, has seen over 50 financing events this year.

On August 5, a reporter from the China Times learned from Xiaopeng Huitian that Xiaopeng Huitian received $150 million in B1 round financing and started B2 round financing at the same time. Xiaopeng Huitian said that this round of financing will ensure the smooth realization of the research and development of Xiaopeng Huitian flying car mass production and commercialization process.

Zhao Deli, founder and president of Xiaopeng Huitian, posted on his personal social platform: "Thank you for the support of Guangzhou Development Zone! Our mass production factory with an annual output of 10,000 flying cars is about to start construction; the land aircraft carrier is about to be released and will be accepted for reservations in the fourth quarter; the research and development of the next generation of ultra-long-range products is in full swing, and Xiaopeng Huitian will help China's low-altitude economy!"

According to official introduction, Xiaopeng Huitian is about to build the world's first flying car factory that uses modern assembly lines for large-scale mass production in the Guangzhou Development Zone. It will first be used to produce the flying body of the split flying car "land aircraft carrier".

A week ago, Geely Wofei Changkong just completed its B+ round of financing, with the investor being the Chengdu Major Industrialization Project Investment Fund under the Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment Group. This round of financing will help Wofei Tianyu further develop and expand its market in the field of drones. According to a reporter from the China Times, since its establishment, Wofei Changkong has completed three rounds of market-oriented financing, with each round of financing exceeding 100 million yuan.

In fact, the low-altitude economy has shown a wave of "financing fever" since the beginning of this year. From the announcement by Technology in March that it had completed a US$20 million strategic round A financing, to Volant Aviation's completion of four rounds of financing as of July, with a financing scale of 100 million yuan, my country's low-altitude economy has been welcomed by the capital market.

According to incomplete statistics, there were 54 financing events in the low-altitude economy in the first half of 2024, exceeding the number for the whole of last year. Among them, there were nearly 10 events with financing amounts reaching 100 million yuan.

In addition to financing, commercial cooperation in the low-altitude economy is also advancing. On August 3, CATL and Fengfei Aviation signed a strategic investment and cooperation agreement worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The two parties will combine their respective resources and technological advantages to focus on improving the energy density and performance of eVTOL batteries, supporting longer flight distances and higher loads for eVTOL.

This move has also caused a lot of backlash in China. Li Lujing, an analyst at Founder Securities, said that CATL has made progress in civilian electric manned aircraft. The cooperation between the two parties is expected to solve the battery problems such as insufficient battery life that are common in eVTOs, while leading the overall technical capabilities of eVTOL aircraft to a new level and significantly accelerating the development of the low-altitude economy.

Zeng Yuqun, chairman of CATL, said: "CATL has successfully tested a 4-ton civil electric aircraft and is actively investing in and accelerating the development of an 8-ton aircraft, which is expected to be released in 2027 or 2028, and will support a range of about 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers."

In addition, a reporter from the China Times also learned from GAC Group that the flying car GOVE independently developed by GAC Group has carried out more than 300 flight verifications so far, and plans to launch a flying car demonstration operation plan in 2027 to create an inter-city three-dimensional travel model in 2-3 cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The application fee for the pilot license starts from 99,800 yuan.

From the central government to local governments, from policies to enterprises, from capital to the market, with the full support of all parties, my country's eVTOL aircraft and flying cars are accelerating into a new stage of commercialization. In the process of landing, it is essential that flight personnel have the initial qualifications to enter the low-altitude area.

A reporter from the China Times interviewed a coach from a driving school in Beijing. He told the reporter: "There are two types of flying cars. One is the eVTOL aircraft, and the other is a flying car that can run on the road and fly in the sky. At present, the first type is better developed in China. It is automatic driving and does not require a pilot's license. If you want to fly the second type, you must have a pilot's license."

It is reported that flight licenses are divided into sports pilot licenses (hereinafter referred to as "sports licenses"), private pilot licenses (hereinafter referred to as "private licenses"), commercial pilot licenses and airline transport pilot licenses. Each license has different rights and driving requirements. Among them, the first two are the two major categories applicable to the current low-altitude economy field.

Pilots holding a sports license can fly for personal entertainment and non-remunerated commercial flights. A private license allows the holder to fly non-profit aircraft, but the holder cannot work as a professional pilot for an airline, nor can he engage in any flying activities for the purpose of earning income. He can only fly for private purposes and for his own entertainment.

"What we are learning here is a fixed-wing aircraft pilot's license, which can be used for flying for fun or to engage in professional flying. Among the categories of pilot licenses, the most basic is the sports license, and the next level is the private license. These two types cannot be used for profit-making work." The above-mentioned coach told the reporter from the China Times.

Regarding the charging standards and requirements for flight licenses, the coach told the China Times reporter: "For a sports license, you need to fly 30 hours (before you can fly alone), and the fee is 99,800 yuan. For a private license, you need to practice flying for at least 40 hours, and there are two prices to choose from, one is 236,200 yuan, and the other is 249,000 yuan." "Usually, you can complete the training in less than a month, more than 20 days."

Of course, the charging standards vary from city to city and from institution to institution. According to CCTV Finance, the base price of a private flying club in Zhejiang is 68,000 yuan. Originally, the cost of obtaining a private license was about 300,000 yuan. Now, you can first obtain a basic sports license and then upgrade to a private license for about 150,000 yuan.

Regarding whether one can fly alone after learning, the instructor told the reporter of China Times that those who have good skills can fly by themselves, but some people do not have confidence in themselves and need to be accompanied by an instructor. This is also possible, but they need to pay separately. "It's like learning a car driver's license. Some people can drive on the road after learning, but some people dare not."

According to Song Zhiyong, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, there are more than 14,000 drone companies holding valid civil unmanned aircraft operating certificates, and more than 225,000 drone operators holding licenses. "From the data, we can see that my country's low-altitude economy is entering a new stage of rapid growth."

Editor-in-charge: Li Yan'an Chief Editor: Yu Jianping