China’s AS700 Manned Civil Balloon Completes First Delivery Flight, Meets Design Expectations

On March 30, the AS700, a manned civil balloon aircraft developed by China, completed its first delivery flight. The aircraft took off from Jingmen city, Hubei province, at 6:04 a.m. and landed in Jingzhou city, also in Hubei province, after a 106-minute flight. It then returned to Kinh Mon, completing the first handover flight.

The AS700 was developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country’s leading aircraft manufacturer. It features a single capsule design with a single point landing gear and is designed to meet the needs of air travel, emergency rescue, and urban services. With a maximum takeoff weight of 4,150 kg, a flight range of 700 km, and a maximum flight time of 10 hours, the AS700 can carry up to 10 people including a pilot at a maximum speed of 100 km/h.

The flight on March 30 helped verify the performance of the AS700 comprehensively. The chief designer of the project, Zhou Lei, stated that the flight completed all tasks, tested air-ground communication capabilities