In 2026, if you ask an eVTOL OEM what its strategic priority is, 'going global' will most likely rank first.
The data is indeed bustling: In July 2025, a tiltrotor company in Shanghai secured a USD 1 billion letter of intent from a UAE operator for 350 five-seat eVTOLs—the official term is 'letter of intent,' marking the largest single eVTOL letter of intent in China to date. In the same month, a passenger eVTOL company signed a USD 1.75 billion framework agreement for 500 aircraft with a Thai partner at the International Low-Altitude Economy Expo, with a state-owned engineering firm responsible for the low-altitude infrastructure along the routes. In October, a leading flying car company signed a contract for 600 units on the spot after a demonstration in Dubai, setting a record for the largest overseas batch order in the industry. By the end of the same month, a ton-class eVTOL company reached a procurement agreement with Falcon Aviation Services in the UAE for 50 aircraft—15 for cargo and 35 for passengers—to serve the energy and material transportation of the national oil company, with the first batch delivered by the end of that year.
From Southeast Asia to the Middle East, from Central Asia to Latin America, Chinese eVTOLs are scattering letters of intent across the global market at an unprecedented pace.
Beneath the hustle and bustle, three questions are worth pondering: Why go global? Where to go? And after going global, what's next?
I. Why Go Global: Three Driving Forces
The first driving force: Domestic commercialization is still climbing, and orders need to be 'exported.' Domestic policies are intensive and pilots are everywhere, but there are only a handful of projects that have truly closed the commercial loop. Imperfect vertiport networks, complex airspace approval processes, and the still-cultivating willingness of C-end consumers to pay—these constraints dictate that what OEMs secure domestically are 'letters of intent,' which are hard to convert into 'deliveries' in the short term. Going global is essentially about seeking faster scenarios for commercial implementation.
The second driving force: Overseas 'policy + capital' dual testing grounds. In July 2026, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority issued the world's first dedicated commercial eVTOL vertiport certificate. In September of the same year, a leading flying car company signed an agreement with the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah to build the world's first regulatory sandbox focusing on personal low-altitude flight under the supervision of the UAE GCAA, and launched cross-emirate route demonstrations. The common characteristics of these countries: abundant capital, willing to pay for emerging industries; flexible policies, able to use the sandbox mechanism to let aircraft fly first, bypassing the lengthy approval processes in Europe and the US.
The third driving force: The overseas narrative in the capital market. This was already mentioned earlier this month in 'Policy Shifting Gears, Capital Shifting Gears, Testing the Same Question': about 10 companies are queuing for IPOs, some holding thousands of letters of intent and facing the VAM red line of 'going public by the end of the year or facing share repurchases.' A large order from the Middle East or Southeast Asia is not just business progress, but also a valuation card to prove to the capital market that 'there is real demand in the global market.' I won't elaborate much here, just remember one sentence: The overseas expansion wanted by capital and the overseas expansion wanted by operations are not the same thing.
II. Three Strategies for Going Global
Strategy 1: Operational cooperation. On the day the USD 1 billion letter of intent was signed, the technical team immediately began consultations with the UAE GCAA regarding the airworthiness certification path and operational management rules. The core of this strategy is: first bind local operators, let the operators push for approvals and run scenarios, while the OEM focuses on building good aircraft. The essence is 'light overseas expansion'—no factories, no outposts, exchanging partners' local resources for market access.
Strategy 2: Regulatory sandbox. The cooperation in Ras Al Khaimah is obviously 'heavier': it's not just about selling aircraft, but participating in the formulation of local low-altitude traffic rules. Aircraft manufacturers are starting to write the rules, which is the real new variable in the overseas expansion narrative.
Strategy 3: Airworthiness lane-switching. In June 2026, a Chinese ton-class eVTOL company obtained the Type Acceptance Certificate from the Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation, becoming the world's first eVTOL to receive overseas type validation. The value of this certificate lies in: bypassing the dominant narrative of European and American standards in the global airworthiness field, and expanding to Belt and Road co-building countries with China-validated standards. In the words of an executive from this company, there are only two eVTOL companies in the world that have obtained a full set of airworthiness certifications, and only one for ton-class and above.
III. Southeast Asia vs. the Middle East: Two Markets, Two Ledgers
Where to go global? The hottest destinations are Southeast Asia and the Middle East, but the business logic of the two markets is completely different.
The logic of Southeast Asia is 'rigid demand + geography.' Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic country, with real air transportation pain points between the mainland and islands, between islands, and in remote areas. In August 2026, this ton-class company signed a framework agreement for 60 aircraft with Indonesia's largest helicopter operator for island commuting and air taxi services. What is worth a closer look at is the obligation list in the agreement: the operator needs to build vertiports, set up operational processes, deploy safety systems, and reserve pilots and maintenance personnel—the order is for the aircraft, but the landing conditions are all about operations. In Southeast Asia, eVTOL is not a luxury, but a critical necessity: using large unmanned eVTOLs to replace costly manned helicopters for material transportation and supply in islands and remote areas.
The logic of the Middle East is 'capital + policy + consumption upgrade.' The UAE and Saudi Arabia have the most concentrated high-net-worth population in the world. The low-altitude economy has been explicitly included in the national development strategy, with open airspace, ample scenarios, and maximized testing conditions. But the essence of the Middle East market is not rigid demand, but the demonstration effect: emergency material transportation, low-altitude tourism, urban commuting—the payers for these scenarios are not ordinary consumers, but governments and large state-owned enterprises. In other words, the first wave of dividends in the Middle East consists of To G and To B orders, not To C consumption. Demonstration orders cannot sustain long-term business; this is a line that must be clearly written in the Middle East ledger.
IV. The Real Problems Beyond Orders
Real problem 1: Got the airworthiness certificate, but what about the operating certificate? The airworthiness certificate solves 'whether this aircraft is safe,' while the operating certificate solves 'whether this route can fly every day.' Overseas, the difficulty of the latter is often greater—airspace management rules, insurance systems, and operational certifications vary from country to country. The airworthiness certificate is a ticket, not a business.
Real problem 2: Letters of intent are on paper, deliveries are in scenarios. The list of names above is almost entirely 'letters of intent' and 'frameworks' according to official statements. The conversion from intent to delivery is separated by multiple hurdles such as airworthiness certification, capacity ramp-up, and customer operational preparation. This is true domestically, and even more so overseas. This is not to pour cold water—precisely because conversion is difficult, only those whose 'operational preparation' is in place first will see their letters of intent turn into deliveries.
Real problem 3: Who will do the localized operations? Some companies have already built operational bases in Abu Dhabi, training local pilots and maintenance personnel; others plan to set up assembly and service centers overseas. But localized operations are not enough with just building a base: training systems, spare parts supply chains, maintenance networks, emergency response mechanisms—all are ground work, and none of them is easy.
This is where the true message of this article is hidden. What OEMs are rushing for in going global are the accounts of manufacturing and selling, but behind every overseas route, someone has to do this ground work, and none of it is something aircraft manufacturers can do as a side job or are willing to bend over to do for the long term. During the domestic commercialization ramp-up period, operators are waiting for scenarios; during the OEMs' overseas order-rushing period, the operators' opportunities lie in following them overseas—maintenance points for island commuting in Southeast Asia, maintenance personnel stationed in the high-temperature and sandstorm environment of the Middle East, no one in China has calculated these accounts yet, because the first lease cycle hasn't arrived.
V. The Endgame: Not Selling Aircraft, but Exporting Standards
Elevating the perspective: expanding to co-building countries with China-validated standards has a demonstrative effect on the formulation of future global airworthiness rules; participating in regulatory sandboxes is essentially participating in the formulation of local low-altitude traffic rules. Relying on the world-leading UAV industry foundation and the complete NEV (New Energy Vehicle) supply chain, eVTOL is becoming another card for the overseas expansion of high-end intelligent manufacturing, following the NEV.
When Chinese NEVs went global back in the day, they experienced a shift from 'trading low prices for market share' to 'winning respect with technology.' eVTOLs are taking a similar path, just at a faster speed and with higher standards. The judgment of a company founder is worth noting: when products are in the same price range as similar models in Europe and the US, overseas customers still choose Chinese brands—competitiveness is no longer about price.
Final Words
Going global is not the endpoint, but the beginning of another major test.
Aircraft are the product, airworthiness certificates are the tickets, and the connected operational network is the business. The accounts of the overseas market, just like the domestic market, will ultimately fall on the operations ledger: who is the operational entity for each vertiport, who are the tenants, and whether the pricing model can balance the books.
The first phase of Chinese eVTOLs going global is about rushing for orders, obtaining airworthiness certifications, and occupying the track. The second phase is about competing in operations, competing in costs, and competing for repeat purchases.
Taking off is a capability, but staying is the real skill. The same applies to the overseas market.
—— This article was first published on the WeChat Official Account 'Jingzhe Xiaoxiaohe De Xiatian' —— Please indicate the source when reprinting. Support original content, protect original content, everyone's responsibility.