The Gulf region has made a significant step to flying cars. Aridge, a Chinese flying car maker which was previously referred to as Xpeng Aeroht, has successfully completed its maiden flight test in Dubai, and this marks a history in personal aircraft in the Middle East.
The occasion was accompanied by an interesting business release: Aridge got 600 new aircraft orders with major companies in the GCC that indicated the soaring popularity of the region with next-generation mobility.
Michael Chao Du (CFO and Vice President of Aridge) noted that Ali and Sons Group (UAE), Almana Group (Qatar), AlSayer Group (Kuwait), and the Chinese Business Council in the UAE, which placed the bulk orders, are the biggest flying car orders outside China.
The Middle East is a strategic market and a valued partner said Du. The region is the best springboard on our globalization process with its increasing contribution to globally innovative processes and progressive policies.
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A Flying Car That Fits in the Trunk
The flagship invention of Aridge is called the Land Aircraft Carrier and it is a modular flying car. It is a ground vehicle integrated with an air module that is electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) detachable.
Simply put it is an electric car with an evtol aircraft in the trunk. The air module gets separated when required, and flies to the skies, which are the ground mothship. After airborne work is done, it automatically comes back and attaches to the back section of a car again – making driving and flying the car smooth and easy.
The plane is in both the auto and manual flight modes. Its price is also said to be less than RMB 2 million (around AED 1.03 million) in China which is one of the more affordable ideas of flying cars available in the market.
Middle East as the Launchpad
It is no accident that Aridge has decided to make the first international manned flight in Dubai. UAE, and other countries in the Gulf have been very vocal in the idea of urban air mobility, by investing heavily in flying taxi and low altitude transport systems. American eVTOL firms Archer and Joby Aviation are both readying to start commercial air taxi flights in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in 2026.
Du reaffirmed that Aridge is collaborating with the aviation authorities in the region, including the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), as well as the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), in an effort to ensure airworthiness and thus satisfy all the regulations. Du further added that there will be gradual efforts of launching similar collaborations with other GCC countries.
Production, Capacity, and Global Ambitions
The Land Aircraft Carrier designed by Aridge has now gone into mass production in China. Delivery is projected to commence by 2026 with the help of the first intelligent flying car factory in the world in Guangzhou with a capacity of producing up to 10,000 vehicles in a year.
The Type Certificate of the company was received in March 2024 in China and Production Certification in May 2025. Back in the UAE, Aridge received a special flight permit by the GCAA in September 2025, which is an important step in the path to regional acceptance.
The company has 1,200 R&D professionals at its Guangzhou plant, with 965 patents registered worldwide, and it has attracted more than 600 million investments. Aridge has come up with seven generations of flying vehicles, consumer sales in the Middle East are planned to take place in 2027.
Next in Line: The Aridge A868
In addition to the Land Aircraft Carrier, Aridge is also working on the A868 – a high speed, long range flying car that incorporates tiltrotor technology and a hybrid electric power source.
The A868 will boast:
- Range: Over 500 km
- Top speed: More than 360 km/h
- Seating: Up to six passengers
Du claimed that the A868 was a redefinition of personal and business air mobility and was designed to extend into use cases, such as emergency response, air patrol and business travel.
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The product will enable the user to fly on his or her own, and enjoy the delight and liberty of flight. It is user-friendly, non-dangerous and designed to be used by ordinary citizens, as Du said.
How It Works: Fly Like You Drive
The vision of Aridge is to transform flying to be as easy as driving. Rather than the usual cockpit panel, there is a massive smart screen on the air module with easy route planning, one-button taking off and landing, and 3D vision-guided navigation.
The system is autonomous in route planning and flight controls in the automatic mode. When in the manual mode, pilots have the single-stick control system of Aridge, which integrates six tasks in a single joystick as a one-handed pilot.
Every layer is designed with safety in mind: the car has fully redundant propulsion, power, communication, and control systems, and in case of a rotor malfunction, it immediately stops and the pilot is able to override the vehicle to ensure a secure and stable flight.
Flying for Everyone, Not Just the Elite
Although Aridge is a futuristic technology, it claims that flying cars should not be a privilege of the privileged few. With the maturity of the supply chain and the rise of technology, the cost will automatically decline, according to Du. We aim to democratize flying and not to maintain it as a privilege of a few.
Aridge with its first manned test flight in Dubai, and the highest GCC orders in history is positioning itself as a prime competitor in the worldwide competition to transform personal air travel into a mass reality. The people of Middle East could not only be driving in 2027, they could finally be flying.