With the introduction of a series of encouraging policies, China's low-altitude economy is ushering in a real era. In February 2021, the low-altitude economy was written into the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline" for the first time; In December 2022, the Outline of the Strategic Plan for Expanding Domestic Demand (2022-2035) emphasized the need to release the consumption potential of general aviation; In December 2023, the ** Economic Work Conference clearly identified the low-altitude economy as a national strategic emerging industry; In January 2024, the "Interim Regulations on the Flight Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" came into effect, which will manage the whole chain of unmanned aircraft from design, production to operation and use.
First, the composition of the industrial chain of low-altitude economy
The so-called "low altitude" usually refers to the airspace within 1,000 meters from the vertical distance from the ground plane directly below, and can be extended to 3,000 meters according to the characteristics of different regions and actual needs. The so-called "low-altitude economy" refers to the economic activities based on this part of the airspace, including multi-scenario low-altitude flight activities such as manned, unmanned aerial vehicles, cargo and other operations, as well as related fields driven by their radiation.
The "low-altitude economy" is mainly composed of low-altitude manufacturing, low-altitude flight, low-altitude support and comprehensive services, etc., with a wide range of radiation, a long industrial chain, strong growth and driving characteristics, and has broad application prospects in promoting economic development, strengthening social security, and serving national defense. Since the low-altitude economy involves a variety of aircraft industry chains such as unmanned aerial vehicles and flying cars, we can only summarize the low-altitude economic industry chain in general.
The low-altitude industrial chain can still be divided into upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream includes raw materials, core components, auxiliary components and other fields, of which raw materials include alloy materials, engineering plastics, special rubber, etc.; The midstream is composed of low-altitude manufacturing, low-altitude support and supporting services, mainly including the R&D and manufacturing of various manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, the manufacturing and installation of ground system equipment, and supporting services related to low-altitude flight. Downstream refers to various industry application scenarios, including low-altitude transportation, low-altitude logistics, low-altitude tourism, low-altitude sports, low-altitude inspection, etc.
Second, the three major industrial opportunities of the low-altitude economy
Since 2013, Dongtan Think Tank has participated in Zhengyang Group, Zongshen Tianchen and other enterprises and Qingdao, Guiyang, Xuzhou and other airport economic zones related to the general aviation industry, the low-altitude economic industry caused by multiple rounds of upsurge has an intuitive feeling, general aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, flying cars three major fields have become the industrial outlet, leading the development of the upstream and downstream industrial chain of the low-altitude economy and related applications.
1. General aviation can be described as thunder and rain
General aviation aircraft can be divided into small business jets, seaplanes and other types. Referring to the development process of developed countries in Europe and the United States, the gradual opening of low-altitude airspace will promote the explosive growth of the general aviation industry and give birth to trillion-level emerging industries. Since the issuance of China's "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of General Aviation Industry" in 2016, general aviation is expected to become the next blue ocean.
At present, general aviation has been developed within a certain range, taking the application as an example, from national defense construction, anti-terrorism and stability maintenance, to emergency rescue and disaster relief, emergency rescue, to agriculture and forestry operations, geological exploration, and then to tourism, flight training, has penetrated into many fields of social economy. According to the data, in 2022, the number of general airports under registration management in the country will be 399, a year-on-year increase of 78%；The total number of registered aircraft is 3,186, of which 1,157 are for teaching and training, accounting for 3632%。
Judging from the above data, China's general aviation is still in the early stage of industry development. Due to the lack of supply of low-altitude airspace, the lag of general aviation infrastructure construction, and the imperfect general aviation regulatory system, the overall development of general aviation in China is relatively slow, and the overall scale of the industry is still relatively small. Today, China's economic growth is sluggish, as an imaginative industry, general aviation is biased between control and liberalization, and it will stimulate the development of the local economy in many aspects such as investment, manufacturing and consumption.
2. The UAV industry has achieved explosive development
UAVs can be divided into fixed-wing UAVs, multi-rotor UAVs, unmanned airships, parachute-wing UAVs, flapping wing UAVs, etc. China is already the world's largest civil drone market, with the size of the civil drone market reaching 119.6 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 3763%；It has formed a complete drone industry system, with a number of leading enterprises such as DJI, EHang, XAG Technology, and Taotong Intelligence. Since 2017, the number of UAVs in China, the number of enterprises, the number of licensed personnel, and the number of flight hours have maintained an average annual growth rate of about 15%.
In the field of consumer drones, they have been widely used in tourism, life photography, navigation, nursing, sports, competitions, entertainment, education, performances, weddings, games and other aspects. Swiftant Technology operates and deploys medical community units in Hangzhou, and UAV medical transportation has also been successfully applied to blood transportation, inter-hospital transportation, emergency rescue, event security and other subdivisions, covering more than 20 cities.
In the field of industrial unmanned aerial vehicles, it has developed rapidly in the fields of inspection, security monitoring, agriculture and forestry plant protection, surveying and mapping and geographic information. In the field of drone logistics with the greatest potential, many companies such as SF Express, Meituan, and JD.com have carried out low-altitude flight pilot tests, and the drone terminal distribution business has been implemented in Shenzhen, Shanghai and other cities. From the perspective of future development, problems such as drone load and endurance still need to be broken through technology, and the cost of drone logistics and drone distribution still needs to be reduced.
3. The flying car industry has become a hot new track
Flying cars generally refer to electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (EVTOL), which has the advantage of not requiring an ultra-long runway, can directly use the first field or any vertical take-off and landing field, has high flexibility, and can be driven remotely or automatically, and easy to operate. Potential use cases for flying cars include urban air mobility (UAM), regional passenger transport (RAM), freight, personal aircraft, emergency medical services, and more.
In the past two years, flying cars have become a new type of transportation track after new energy vehicles, and have been highly sought after by global capital. According to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants**, by 2050 there will be nearly 100,000 flying cars worldwide that will be used for empty car rentals, airport shuttles and intercity aviation. Morgan Stanley also **, by 2050, the global market size of flying cars will reach 9 trillion US dollars, and the potential market size of China will reach 2$1 trillion.
At present, there are a number of domestic manufacturers competing to lay out this outlet, including EHang, Wofei Changkong, Fengfei, Volant, Shitech, Xiaopeng Huitian, etc. In the short term, the application scenarios of flying cars are mainly tourism, logistics and emergency rescue. In the medium and long term, with the large-scale mass production of flying cars, the reduction of costs, and the improvement of air management, navigation and communication infrastructure, its application scenarios for intercity commuting and urban air mobility will be greatly expanded.
Third, the development model of low-altitude economic industry
With the gradual liberalization of low-altitude fields, the exploration of low-altitude economic industries in various regions has continued. At present, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu and other cities in China are actively deploying low-altitude economic industries. In 2024, in the first work reports of Beijing, Guangdong, Anhui, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shandong, Chongqing, Sichuan and other regions, it is proposed to actively explore the development of low-altitude economy.
Shenzhen is undoubtedly a leader in the development of low-altitude economic industry, and has formed a complete UAV industry chain, covering manufacturing, technology research and development, software development, commercial application, talent cultivation and many other links, gathering DJI, Fengyi Technology, Daotong Intelligence, Keweitai, Luffy Intelligence, Sky Eagle Equipment and other industry leading enterprises. In 2023, there will be 1,730 drone-related enterprises in Shenzhen, with an annual output value of 96 billion yuan; 77 new UAV routes have been opened, with a total of 156 routes opened, and more than 600,000 cargo UAV flights have been completed.
The development of low-altitude economic industry is inseparable from the construction of general aviation airports, and the diversified forms of transportation, logistics and non-aviation business can form different development models of general aviation airports, including general aviation operations, general aviation manufacturing, general aviation tourism, general aviation logistics and so on. According to the different core functions, low-altitude economic industrial parks can be divided into three types: manufacturing industrial parks, service-oriented industrial parks and comprehensive industrial parks.
Case link: Low-altitude economic layout in Bao'an District, Shenzhen
As the location of Shenzhen's aviation hub, Shenzhen Bao'an District has a unique industrial ecology and operation scenario for the development of low-altitude economy. Bao'an District has a long history of low-altitude economic and industrial development, and has formed advantageous industries such as low-altitude aircraft represented by unmanned aerial vehicles. In 2023, Bao'an District will issue the "Several Measures of Bao'an District of Shenzhen on Promoting the Development of Low-altitude Economic Industry", which will fully open a new era of low-altitude economic development.
Industry Overview: It has more than 600 UAV and low-altitude economy-related enterprises, covering UAV, aircraft manufacturing, avionics, satellite navigation, aircraft materials and small test sites, software development and other fields, and has gathered industry leaders such as Fengyi Technology, Lingyue Aviation, Keweitai, Lilium Lily Aviation, EHang Intelligence, Fengfei Aviation and so on.
Industrial layout: The low-altitude economic headquarters economic agglomeration area will be laid out in Hangcheng Street, and the "low-altitude economic future center" will be built to build a comprehensive center integrating low-altitude flight support, service, and financial transaction display; The layout of the low-altitude economic industrial park in Yanluo Street, focusing on the research and development of the whole machine, first-class flight test, core parts manufacturing and other links, provides R&D office and pilot production space for institutions and enterprises in the field of low-altitude economy.
Infrastructure: Encourage enterprises and institutions to build take-off and landing site facilities, and build multi-level and multi-scene take-off and landing facilities such as small take-off and landing points for UAVs, intelligent take-off and landing cabinet machines, medium-sized take-off and landing fields, large-scale take-off and landing hubs, evtol take-off and landing fields, and first-class take-off and landing platforms, so as to ensure the functions of UAV take-off and landing, alternate landing, parking, charging, transportation and serving the personalized needs of passengers.
Application scenarios: First, develop urban drone distribution scenarios, carry out logistics drone distribution pilots, build a multi-level low-altitude logistics hub system, and create a low-altitude logistics pilot area. The second is to plan the EVTOL facility system in advance, build an urban air mobility operation demonstration center, develop a number of commercial EVTOL routes for tourism and tourism, and provide air tourism experience services; It will be gradually extended to multiple scenarios such as intra-city travel, air tours, and inter-city transportation. The third is to expand the application of general aviation in public service fields such as urban management inspection, medical assistance, forest fire fighting, urban fire protection, emergency disaster response, land surveying and mapping, and traffic command. Hotspot Engine Program