Hong Kong to test drone, flying car operations in ‘step-by-step’ plan but experts have doubts
Cross-departmental and cross-border talks needed to help city tap into multi-trillion-dollar national low-altitude economy, experts say
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said on Monday that the government was examining which trial programmes were more feasible, as there were concerns about the city’s constraints in developing the business.
“The geographical environment of Hong Kong is quite unique, and with its dense population, promoting the low-altitude economy is a relatively complex project that requires collaboration across various fields,” Lam said.
He said the bureau was collaborating with different government departments to relax restrictions to facilitate low-altitude aviation.
“We will run the trials step by step, from short-haul to long-haul, and from light-weighted to heavy-weighted.”
The low-altitude economy generally refers to manned and unmanned activities within airspace below 1,000 metres (3,281 feet), exemplified by goods delivery by drones and manned tours by electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.