Drones deliver milk tea, the tip of the iceberg of low-altitude economy

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2024-05-24 09:34Published in Guangdong automotive creators

Text: Wang Jingyi

Edit | Shi Zhiliang

On May 22, an ordinary weekday afternoon, the Meituan drone takeaway cabinet in Shenzhen's Talent Park was busy — one drone had just put the takeaway box into a dedicated locker, and another drone was already buzzing in from the air.

Photo by Wang Jingyi

In the empty seaside park, there are many people watching and experiencing the novel drone takeaway, and their mobile phones are pointed at the sky.

An experiencer told a traveler (ID: carcaijing) that drone ordering is a few dollars cheaper than ordinary takeaway (the large glass of Frappuccino drink she ordered from Starbucks is 36 yuan, which is usually 39 yuan, and the delivery is free), and at the same time, it is more fun and newer, and there are a bunch of people watching when you pick up the food, which is a very unique experience.

Photo/Wang Jingyi

On the day of May 22, the drone takeaway cabinet is very busy, and the policies of the low-altitude economy are also busy - according to the incomplete statistics of the travel (ID: carcaijing), on the same day, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the China Civil Airports Association, Sichuan Province and Guangdong Province and other relevant institutions, issued a number of important documents related to airspace reform, take-off and landing field technical specifications and promoting the development of low-altitude economy in the province.

Among them, the Civil Aviation Administration's statement on airspace reform is the most important, because airspace is an important factor restricting the development of low-altitude economy, taking Meituan's drone delivery as an example, the drone must follow a fixed route and fly at a height of no more than 120 meters, so it can only be piloted in a limited area.

Photo by Wang Jingyi

This time, the Civil Aviation Administration said that it will cooperate with relevant departments to do a good job in airspace classification and low-altitude airspace management reform pilots, and increase low-altitude flyable airspace. This released a clear positive signal for the industry, and the next day (May 23) the stock market opened, low-altitude economic concept stocks opened high, and some stocks opened even more than 10%.

As a representative of new quality productivity, the low-altitude economy not only exists in the macro policies of the central and local governments, and is defined as an important growth pole for future economic growth, but also appears in our daily life, whether it is ordering takeout or sightseeing trips, drones, and "flying cars" are accelerating their popularity.

Yang Jincai, academician of the European Academy of Sciences, chairman of the World UAV Congress, and president of the Shenzhen UAV Industry Association, said to the travel of a passenger (ID: carcaijing) that the low-altitude economy includes 85% of the UAV and 15% of the general aviation, below the true height of 1000 meters, special circumstances can be extended to 3000 meters of airspace, resulting in a very dynamic and creative comprehensive economic form, with a wide range of application fields and operation scenarios, the industrial ecology includes manufacturing, flight, support, comprehensive services and other industries, There is trillions of room for development.

01

Tourism is the entry point, and low-altitude consumption is daily

In the sea-breezy Shenzhen Talent Park, the place where the Meituan drone takeaway cabinet is located is undoubtedly the most lively place. Whenever the drone approached, there was an endless stream of people taking pictures and videos, and everyone was curious to observe the little thing with wings.

Figure/IC

In order to facilitate drone grabbing, a square box is set on the outside of the conventional take-out bag, and when the drone arrives, the take-out box will be automatically stored in the cabinet, and the orderer can enter the tail number of the mobile phone to pick up the food, the process is similar to a vending machine. As for the extra boxes, the orderer will need to remove them and put them in the nearest dedicated recycling bin.

Photo by Wang Jingyi

Yang Jincai said that because the takeaway delivery service is generally unable to enter the scenic spot, tourists have to walk for more than ten minutes to pick up the goods at the gate of the scenic spot, and the drone can be directly delivered into the park, which has become a popular experience project for tourists to visit.

The low-altitude economy is the "new quality productivity" in the central documents, and it is also being implemented as a scene in daily life. In terms of low-altitude consumption, most of them are currently in scenic spots, and tourism is the main purpose.

For example, Luogang Park in Hefei, a former airport that has now been transformed into the world's largest urban park, is where EHang's manned vehicles are tested daily and commercialization is being planned.

In the future, Luogang will open air routes in the park and build two "air taxi" hubs, which function like subway stations, and visitors can buy tickets to take flights and overlook the panoramic view of the park from above.

Li Jianwei, managing partner of Zhencheng Investment, told Carcaijing that there are two major application scenarios in manned flight. The first is sightseeing tours within the city, where a tourist attraction can buy several aircraft to provide sightseeing services; The second is intra-city and inter-city rapid transportation, such as the flight from the city center to the airport, which turns from 1 hour to 10 minutes.

At present, China's low-altitude consumer market is still in its infancy, and according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the number of domestic air tours and aviation sports in 2022 will be about 480,000. According to relevant research estimates, by 2030, the economic scale of low-altitude tourism in the mainland is expected to reach more than 200 billion yuan, and the future development space of low-altitude tourism is huge.

During the May Day holiday in 2024, Chongqing held the country's first low-altitude flight consumption week. Visitors can sit on a paraglider and feel the speed and passion of soaring into the sky; You can also take a low-altitude tour by helicopter and get a bird's-eye view of the 8D mountain city from a different angle. According to statistics, the event attracted nearly 510,000 passengers and drove 2.2578 million yuan of low-altitude flight consumption.

Figure/IC

In areas that are invisible to the naked eye, the low-altitude economy is also quietly playing a role, such as transportation.

Yang Jincai introduced to a passenger (ID: carcaijing) that in the past, the material transportation in the Huangshan Scenic Area was mainly based on manpower, and the UAV made up for the shortcomings of manpower transportation, which not only avoided the trail densely populated by tourists, but also greatly shortened the round-trip time, and the transportation volume of the UAV was about 30 shoulder workers a day, and the transportation cost was significantly reduced.

Scenarios are crucial to the development of the low-altitude economy, and with mature commercial operation scenarios, enterprises have the possibility of commercial closed-loop. At this stage, low-altitude + tourism is an important part of the low-altitude economy, and in the future, various local governments hope that there will be more and more consumer scenes.

"In the low-altitude economic scenario, there are really users who are willing to pay sustainably, and three needs must be met." Zhao Ju, senior partner of Rongyi Investment, said to Carcaijing (ID: carcaijing).

The first type is the information dimension, because the drone can stand high and see far, it can be used for coastal defense security, fishing ban patrols, forest areas and oil pipeline inspections, etc., effectively replacing manual labor; The second type is the energy dimension, which can quickly transport people or goods from A to B, which takes less time and has lower overall costs; The third category is the emotional dimension, such as air sports such as tourism and skydiving, which do not generate actual economic value like the previous two, but provide emotional value for users.

02

It is necessary to innovate in regulation, and it is necessary to reform airspace

There are more and more consumption scenarios, and in the early stage of industry development, it is inseparable from the operational support of local governments.

For example, Zhuhai proposed to give a subsidy of 30 yuan/flight for light and small UAVs and 90 yuan/flight for medium and large UAVs for newly opened and normalized UAV cargo routes in Zhuhai; For eVTOL manned routes, a subsidy of 150 yuan/flight will be given for air sightseeing, 200 yuan/flight for intra-city transportation, 300 yuan/flight for intercity transportation, and 400 yuan/flight for cross-border passenger routes operated by drones or helicopters for normal operation.

eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing Aircraft) diagram/IC

This is only part of a package to promote the development of low-altitude economic development, whether it is Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in the Greater Bay Area, Shanghai, Suzhou and Suzhou in the Yangtze River Delta, or Chengdu and Chongqing in the southwest, all localities have issued incentive policies, all have the ambition to become a "low-altitude economic city".

After the Central Economic Work Conference and the government work report set the tone of the high-level level, the low-altitude economy is now regarded as the key cultivation of new quality productivity. Manufacturing, operation, maintenance, infrastructure, comprehensive services and other tracks are promising, and the current development is still focused on the production and manufacturing end, and there is still a broad space for industrial development in the future, becoming a new growth level of the economy.

Zhao Ju believes that local governments provide operating subsidies for enterprises, which directly helps the construction and promotion of scenarios, and promotes enterprise operations and public awareness, but the more critical role of local governments is to build a platform. The second is multi-party coordination and internal and external linkage to create a good policy soil for the industry.

Innovation is always ahead of regulation, and the relevant departments are speeding up the development of norms. After becoming the first "flying car" company approved for mass production, EHang is working with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to develop industry-wide standards for commercial operation, which are expected to be issued in the second quarter of 2024 to manage multiple aircraft safely and orderly at the same time.

EHang Intelligent Unmanned Manned Aircraft Figure/IC

At the beginning of 2024, Shenzhen promulgated the country's first low-altitude economic legislation "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Low-altitude Economic Industry Promotion Regulations", which clearly establishes a coordination mechanism for the development of low-altitude economic industries, and makes provisions in infrastructure, flight services, industrial applications, industrial support, technological innovation, safety management, legal liability and other aspects.

Of all regulatory instruments, airspace is the core of the core. Yang Jincai stressed that the "flying" of the low-altitude economy directly depends on the degree of openness of low-altitude airspace resources.

Photo by Wang Jingyi

Industry insiders generally believe that due to the airspace management and route approval involving the military and the Civil Aviation Administration and other agencies, in the past, enterprises in different regions to apply for route flights, often need to apply for cross-departmental applications, the procedure is more cumbersome, if the approval can be accelerated, enterprises "want to fly", undoubtedly can directly accelerate the progress of the industry.

Therefore, the statement of the Civil Aviation Administration on May 22 is of great significance. The Civil Aviation Administration said that it will cooperate with relevant departments to do a good job in airspace classification and low-altitude airspace management reform pilots, and increase low-altitude flyable airspace; Jointly strengthen the construction of the service support system for low-altitude flight activities, and continue to improve the plan approval, air traffic control, meteorology, communications, surveillance and other service support for low-altitude flight activities.

In response to the new demand for infrastructure for the development of low-altitude economy, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will further improve the construction and operation standards of general airports, and promote the construction of general airports and temporary take-off and landing points; Improve airworthiness certification capabilities, optimize aircraft airworthiness standards, certification modes and technologies. At the same time, iteratively upgrade the safety supervision system for low-altitude flights.

The degree of policy implementation, whether the low-altitude economy can take off to the desired trillion heights, and the development results in reality will soon be known.

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