XPENG AEROHT Achieves Major Milestones with First Middle East Public Manned Flight and Record-Breaking Orders in The Region

Dubai, UAE – October 12, 2025 – XPENG AEROHT, Asia’s largest flying car company, today marks a major milestone in its overseas expansion with the historic Middle East public manned flight of the Land Aircraft Carrier in Dubai and record-breaking orders for 600 flying cars across the region, bringing its total global orders to over 7,000.

As part of this achievement, XPENG AEROHT entered into purchase agreements with the UAE-based Ali & Sons Group, Qatar’s Almana Group, Kuwait’s ALSAYER Group, and the Chinese Business Council in the UAE, setting a record for the largest overseas bulk order in the flying car sector. The region will serve as the company’s first international market, with consumer sales expected as early as 2027. The milestone event was witnessed by H.H. Sheikh Al Mur bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, H.H. Sheikh Humaid Abdulla Rashed Ahmed Almualla, Ms. Ou Boqian, Consul General of China in Dubai, members of the local Chinese community, and over 100 media outlets from around the world.

Over the past 12 years, XPENG AEROHT has stood out as a leading player in Asia’s low-altitude economy, continuously turning the dream of flying cars into reality with groundbreaking technologies and remarkable products. From the first Middle East flight of the X2 in 2022, to the impressive debut of its eVTOL flying car at CES 2024. And now, the Land Aircraft Carrier has entered the mass-production stage, secured the largest overseas orders, and made substantial progress over the past year, including advancing rapidly through certification and completing its first flight in the Middle East, marking the beginning of its global journey. Each milestone forges a major step forward in personal aviation.

The company is making rapid progress in certification. In March 2024, the Type Certificate (TC) application for the flight body (codename: X3-F) of the Land Aircraft Carrier was accepted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). In May 2025, the CAAC also accepted the Production Certification (PC) application for the airframe, marking the start of regulatory review for the mass-production system of XPENG AEROHT’s flying car products.

Land Aircraft Carrier, the world’s first modular flying car now in mass production, with customer deliveries scheduled to begin in 2026. This milestone is supported by the completion of the first-ever intelligent factory for mass-produced flying cars in Guangzhou, China. This facility, capable of producing up to 10,000 units annually, blends aviation-grade standards with automotive-scale efficiency, enabling XPENG AEROHT to scale production for global demand.

The Dubai flight, conducted entirely in manned mode, demonstrated the Land Aircraft Carrier’s controllability and reliability in real-world conditions. It followed a landmark achievement on September 10 in Ras Al Khaimah, when XPENG AEROHT became the first Chinese flying car company to secure an overseas manned aircraft Special Flight Permit from the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), alongside a cooperation agreement with the Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority.

“The Middle East is both a strategic market and a valued partner,” said Mr. Michael Du, CFO and Vice President of XPENG  AEROHT. “With its growing role in global innovation and forward-looking policies, the region is the ideal launchpad for our globalization journey.”

XPENG AEROHT has built a team of 1,200 R&D specialists and invested over US$600 million, consistently pioneering breakthroughs in personal aviation. The company has successfully developed seven generations of products. As of 2025, XPENG AEROHT has filed 965 patents globally and in China, including 675 invention patents.

Building on this momentum, XPENG AEROHT unveiled that it has rebranded as ARIDGE. Derived from “Air” and “Bridge,” the new name embodies the company’s founding purpose of connecting sky and earth, delivering a future where flying is as easy as driving.

“Freedom to Fly has always been our mission,” said Mr. Zhao Deli, Founder of ARIDGE (then XPENG AeroHT). “This rebrand marks our leap from vision to reality. With the new identity, we are creating a new category, building a low-altitude aviation ecosystem, and redefining the boundaries of mobility.”

ARIDGE is also developing the A868, a high-speed, long-range flying car that integrates full tiltrotor technology and a hybrid electrical powertrain system. With a range of over 500 km, a top speed exceeding 360 km/h, and a six-seat cabin, the A868 expands ARIDGE’s capabilities into business travel and mobility services.

As part of the XPENG Motors ecosystem, ARIDGE continues to grow in close synergy with XPENG’s powerful system, advancing with its new brand and new category.

Land Aircraft Carrier – Flying as Easy as Driving

The Land Aircraft Carrier redefines mobility with its pioneering modular design, overcoming traditional eVTOL challenges like mobility, recharging, and storage. Its air module, stored in the trunk of a ground “mothership” vehicle, detaches and reattaches autonomously with a single command, enabling seamless transitions between driving and flying.

Designed to make flying as easy as driving, the air module features a large, user-friendly smart display in place of complex aircraft dashboards. It offers both automatic and manual flight modes. In automatic mode, pilots can plan routes, take off, and land with one touch, supported by 3D vision, alerts, and landing assistance. In manual mode, ARIDGE’s innovative single-stick control system, the first for a flying vehicle, combines six operations into one joystick for effortless one-handed piloting. 

With safety at its core, ARIDGE’s advanced flight control system allows pilots to override autonomous functions while maintaining stable flight within safe parameters. The air module includes fully redundant systems for propulsion, power, communications, and flight control, with automatic rotor failure response in milliseconds. 

“With our new brand, a landmark flight in Dubai, and the “Land Aircraft Carrier” entering mass production, we are bringing the extraordinary into everyday life,” added Mr. Michael Du. “We are leading the low-altitude mobility revolution and invite global partners to work with us to build the ecosystem and open new markets, making the dream of flying cars a reality for people around the world.”

Source: ARIDGE Media