Asian flying car manufacturer ARIDGE has entered into a strategic partnership with the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah to establish the world’s first Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) regulatory sandbox dedicated specifically to personal low-altitude flight.
The agreement was officially signed in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, with complete regulatory oversight provided by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Under the terms of the agreement, ARIDGE, formerly operating as XPENG AEROHT, becomes the first Chinese flying car developer to enter a national-level regulatory sandbox program in the Middle East.
Led operationally by the Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority (RAKTA), the sandbox framework allows ARIDGE to perform flight validation under harsh desert environmental conditions. Engineering teams will assess aircraft performance across realistic operational profiles and refine flight procedures inside controlled airspace while working alongside local aviation authorities and industry partners.
Parallel to the testbed setup, the cooperation includes plans for a demonstration route connecting Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. This inter-emirate flight corridor will function as an active testing ground to determine operational requirements for commercial AAM infrastructure, covering airspace coordination, ground management, flight planning, safety management, passenger handling, and aircraft turnaround times.
His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi stated, “The true value of technology lies in the difference it makes to people’s lives and in its ability to support development and improve services. Ras Al Khaimah is harnessing innovation and new technologies to support the growth of its economy, enhance quality of life, strengthen the Emirate’s competitiveness and reinforce its position as a preferred destination to live, work, invest and visit.”
As a prelude to the partnership, ARIDGE executed a live formation flight demonstration using its Land Aircraft Carrier modular flying car at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. The flight took place during a diplomatic event attended by Chinese Ambassador Zeng Jixin alongside UAE government officials and corporate leaders.
The Land Aircraft Carrier features a modular architecture designed to combine ground transportation with low-altitude flight capabilities. To meet strict safety mandates, the air module relies on fully redundant subsystems across propulsion, power, flight control, and communications, supported by an automated rotor failure response system capable of reacting in milliseconds. The aircraft’s flight control suite enables human pilots to override autonomous routines while maintaining safe flight margins.
The operational experience gathered from the sandbox and inter-emirate route will inform ARIDGE’s efforts to establish scalable, localized AAM services throughout the UAE as part of a broader global commercial deployment strategy targeting Europe and Southeast Asia.
