China’s Prosperity I project moves forward into mainland Europe with the addition of a former Airbus executive.
AutoFlight reported the further expansion of its global presence by establishing its first team in the Old Continent, which will be led by former Airbus executive Mark R. Henning, who is based at Augsburg Airport, Germany.
The team’s first task is to obtain certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the «Prosperity I» flying cab, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with a range of approximately 250 kilometers.
As reported by our partner Aeroin, the model can comfortably accommodate up to 3 passengers, in addition to the pilot. The certification program for this equipment will begin this year and is scheduled for completion in 2025.
A dedicated and growing team will work at the Augsburg R&D and certification center. AutoFlight plans to establish additional sites for test and demonstration flights throughout Europe. The «Prosperity I» is the company’s first manned unit. Previously, it focused on unmanned cargo drones.
«I am very pleased to announce that Mark Henning is joining AutoFlight in Europe to build our ‘Prosperity I’ air cab to EASA safety standards,» said the company’s founder, chairman, and CEO, Tian Yu.
Mark Henning takes over as CEO of AutoFlight Europe. The aeronautical engineer, a graduate of the Technical University of Munich, has been working in the aviation industry for 26 years.
He started his career at DASA and held management positions at EADS and Eurocopter. He was also head of Government Business in the Airbus helicopter division and head of the EC135 product, as well as holding positions in program management, strategy, production, and development.
AutoFlight is one of the first Chinese technology companies to manufacture autonomous eVTOL aircraft, including for large payload logistics and autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Its designs completed more than 10,000 takeoff and landing cycles, even in adverse weather conditions. The company says it is now ready to build its «Prosperity I» people-carrying vehicle and will show progress on its vertical-to-horizontal flight transition tests in a few weeks.
AutoFlight is based in Shanghai, with a flight control systems research center in Germany and a composite materials factory in Jining/Shandong province.
Over the past year, Berlin-based European technology holding company Team Global invested $100 million in AutoFlight. Its founder and CEO, Lukasz Gadowski, is a member of the company’s board of directors.
