The Aridge flying car could give UAE residents a way to own an aircraft they can drive home and park, but it is not on sale here yet. Aridge, the flying car company in the XPeng group, is preparing to bring its Land Aircraft Carrier to the market, and a co-founder told Khaleej Times that around 600 of its roughly 7,000 global pre-orders came from the GCC. Those figures are the company’s own.
Before anyone can fly one in the UAE, the aircraft still needs a type certificate in China and approval from the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Here is what is known so far.
Key points
- The Land Aircraft Carrier pairs a six-wheeled road vehicle with a detachable two-seat electric aircraft
- Aridge says it has about 7,000 pre-orders worldwide, about 600 of them from the GCC
- No official UAE price; it has been reported at about US$300,000, roughly AED 1.1 million by our estimate
- The aircraft has no type certificate yet; UAE use would need GCAA validation
- Testing will run in a Ras Al Khaimah regulatory sandbox, with deliveries targeted for 2027
How the Aridge flying car works
The Land Aircraft Carrier has two modules: a six-wheeled road vehicle and a two-seat electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft stored in its rear compartment. Unlike the air taxis being developed by companies such as Joby Aviation, it is aimed at individual owners rather than commercial passenger services.
Owners drive to an approved flying area, and the vehicle releases the aircraft. After a flight, cameras guide the road vehicle back to the aircraft and the suspension adjusts so the two modules line up. Tan Wang, Aridge’s co-founder and vice-president, said reconnecting takes around four to five minutes.
“We use at least seven systems and more than 1,000 parts to build a mechanism. This mechanism can be reconnected and separated just in one-touch operation.”
Tan Wang, Aridge co-founder (Khaleej Times)
Because the aircraft sits inside the vehicle, owners would not need a hangar and could keep it in their own parking space, subject to parking and vehicle rules. According to the company’s release, pilots can override autonomous functions, and the air module has redundant propulsion, power, communications and flight control systems.
Price and specifications reported so far
Aridge has not published a list price or official performance figures. The numbers below come from reporting by Electrek, as summarised by TechRepublic, and the AED figure is our own conversion at 3.6725 dirhams to the dollar.
| Item | Reported figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | About 2 million yuan, roughly US$300,000 | Not an official UAE price |
| Price in AED | About AED 1.1 million | Dubai Press estimate |
| Aircraft weight | About 700 kg | Electrek |
| Aircraft battery | About 50 kWh | Electrek |
| Charging | 30% to 80% in about 18 minutes | Electrek |
| Seats in aircraft | Two | Company |
What approvals are needed in the UAE
Owning the vehicle will not mean owners can take off whenever they like. Wang said Aridge first needs a type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), and would then seek validation from the GCAA so the aircraft can be flown legally in the country. Rules for individual operators and flying locations in the UAE are still being worked out.
“First, we need to achieve our target from China. We need to have our type certification from the CAAC. After that, we’re going to have the VTC. It’s already valid from China’s type certification, and then we can use the VTC to fly legally here.”
Tan Wang, Aridge co-founder (Khaleej Times)
The UAE already has rules for other new kinds of vehicle, such as Abu Dhabi’s licence plates for self-driving cars, but no licence requirement for private flying car owners has been published.
The Ras Al Khaimah sandbox
On 18 September, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, witnessed the signing of an agreement between the Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority, the RAK Department of Civil Aviation and Aridge, WAM reported. Aridge will be the founding partner of the emirate’s advanced air mobility test zone, which builds on a first flying vehicle test flight in Ras Al Khaimah in 2025.
The company said the sandbox, led by the Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority, will operate under the full oversight of the GCAA. It also plans a demonstration route between Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, according to the PR Newswire release. “We believe that the true value of technology lies in its impact on people’s lives and its ability to support development and improve services,” Sheikh Saud said, according to WAM.
When could deliveries start?
Aridge’s chief financial officer, Michael Du, told Khaleej Times last month that the aircraft has completed authority test flights in China and is awaiting its final type certificate. He said UAE test operations could start as early as the beginning of 2027, and consumer deliveries could begin in late 2027 in an ideal scenario, possibly slipping into early 2028.
Where the vehicle will be sold in the UAE has not been announced. Aridge said it is open to using existing vertiports and helicopter landing sites rather than building its own network. Electric aircraft are also among the exhibits at EV World Dubai, and the wider sector is covered in our look at the UAE aviation industry.
Sources: WAM, Aridge via PR Newswire, TechRepublic, Khaleej Times
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