The Persian Gulf breeze has touched Chinese personal flying vehicles for the first time.

On October 12, Dubai local time, Xpeng AeroHT's modular flying car "Land Aircraft Carrier" completed its first overseas manned public flight demonstration. Under the full supervision of representatives from the UAE and Dubai Civil Aviation Authorities, the test pilot successfully took off from the ground, glided over the sea surface, circled smoothly in the air, and landed safely.

This demonstration not only showcased Xpeng AeroHT's product intelligence level, but more importantly, it gained official recognition from the UAE Civil Aviation Authority and Dubai Civil Aviation Authority. The aircraft completed relevant inspections and obtained flight permits before the flight. This means that Xpeng AeroHT's products have taken a crucial step toward market access overseas in terms of both technology and compliance.

Xpeng AeroHT revealed that it signed purchase agreements for the first batch of 600 flying cars in the Middle East with UAE's Ali&Sons Group, Qatar's Almana Group, Kuwait's AlSayer Group, and the UAE Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, setting a record for the largest overseas bulk purchase in this field.

One successful public maiden flight, one record-breaking commercial order, one brand-new international brand. Xpeng AeroHT's "hat trick" performance in Dubai seems to announce to the world that scenes from science fiction movies are accelerating into reality, and a technology-driven "personal flying era" is quietly approaching.

However, one successful product demonstration cannot fully support a company's future. The breadth and depth of the market depend on whether its product matrix can cover enough application scenarios. Xpeng AeroHT clearly has a clear plan for this.

According to the "China Passenger eVTOL Industry White Paper" released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in September this year, the future market will mainly evolve into two segments: first, personal flying eVTOL focusing on sightseeing, training and other short-distance lightweight scenarios; second, "air taxi"-like travel eVTOL that meets intercity, long-distance point-to-point transportation needs.

Xpeng AeroHT's product layout aligns with this prediction. The "Land Aircraft Carrier" precisely targets the former - the personal flying market. Meanwhile, another product revealed at the launch event - the high-speed long-range flying car A868 currently in development - targets the latter.

According to disclosed information, the A868 has a designed range of over 500km and a maximum design speed exceeding 360km/h. Such performance specifications are sufficient to cover most long-distance travel needs within urban circles. According to Xpeng AeroHT's "three-step" strategy, these two products will jointly build a diversified low-altitude travel scenario, forming a dual-track advancement pattern of "short-distance entertainment + long-distance commuting."

This dual-product strategy demonstrates Xpeng AeroHT's greater ambition: it doesn't just want to be a "toy for the rich," but hopes to become a key node in the future three-dimensional transportation network.

Subsequently, as urbanization continues to deepen, seeking transport capacity from the sky has become a global consensus. BCG's report predicts that by 2040, the global passenger eVTOL market will reach $225 billion. Xpeng AeroHT's dual-track layout enables it to simultaneously capture opportunities in both personal consumer and public transportation markets, opening vast imaginative space for its long-term development.

It's worth noting that Xpeng AeroHT's choice of the Middle East as the first stop for its globalization strategy is actually a well-considered decision.

First, the Middle Eastern market has enormous potential and high compatibility. BCG's report predicts that by 2040, the Middle East passenger eVTOL market will reach $11.7 billion, with personal flying eVTOL accounting for nearly 85%. This highly aligns with the "Land Aircraft Carrier's" product positioning. Xpeng AeroHT Vice President Du Chao also pointed out that the Middle East not only has a forward-looking policy environment and strong industrial support, but also users with highly open attitudes toward future transportation methods.

Additionally, at the launch event, Xpeng AeroHT officially released its new international brand "ARIDGE." The brand name combines "Air" (sky) and "Bridge," symbolizing "a bridge connecting heaven and earth flight." The new brand image, accompanied by substantial breakthroughs in the Middle Eastern market, marks that Xpeng AeroHT's globalization pace is significantly accelerating.

However, grand market visions and clear strategic planning ultimately need solid manufacturing capabilities to support them.

At the launch event, Xpeng AeroHT showcased its flying car intelligent manufacturing base located in Guangzhou, China, which was fully completed at the end of September. This is reportedly the world's first factory to mass-produce flying cars using modern assembly lines, with "10,000-unit level" annual capacity, planned for official production and delivery in 2026. When fully operational, one aircraft can roll off the production line every 30 minutes.

From prototypes to industrialized products with annual production of 10,000 units, this is undoubtedly the most critical leap in the commercialization process. Strong manufacturing capability is the foundation of Xpeng AeroHT's confidence in accepting large overseas orders. However, from factory completion to truly achieving large-scale, economical mass production, Xpeng AeroHT still needs to continue its sprint.

It should be noted that flying cars integrate both aviation and automotive industries, making their supply chain complexity far exceed that of a single field. Aviation-grade components require extremely high precision and reliability. How to find a balance between ensuring "aviation-grade precision" and achieving "automotive-grade efficiency," and building a stable, reliable, and cost-controllable supply chain system, will be a mandatory question for Xpeng AeroHT to answer.

On the other hand, for ordinary people, flying cars remain a relatively distant and novel concept. How to convince the public of the absolute safety of "cars" flying overhead, and whether prices can subsequently be reduced to levels sufficient to leverage the mass market - these questions need the entire industry to gradually resolve through long periods of time and substantial investment.

Nevertheless, Xpeng AeroHT's "muscle flexing" in Dubai and Dubai "tycoons'" generous purchases have injected a strong stimulant into the entire low-altitude economy sector. With tangible orders and clear globalization strategy, it has proven that personal flight is accelerating from dream to reality. The completion of the "10,000-unit level" factory has prepared sufficient "ammunition" for its large-scale production.

But the real decisive battlefield will be beyond Dubai's spotlight. That will be a longer and more difficult protracted war concerning supply chain integration, regulatory breakthroughs, cost control, and market cultivation. The flight in Dubai is just a prologue, and the true arrival of the personal flying era requires all participants in the industry chain to jointly fly over the numerous mountains ahead.