Drive and fly the same vehicle

If you’ve ever sat in Kuwait traffic and wished your car could simply lift off and fly over it, you’re not the only one. A Chinese company called Aridge says it’s getting close to selling exactly that kind of vehicle to residents of the UAE, and it’s already taken orders from people across the Gulf, including the GCC.

The vehicle is called the Land Aircraft Carrier. It isn’t an air taxi like the ones companies such as Joby Aviation are building for paid passenger flights. This one is built for a single owner to drive, park at home, and then fly for short trips.

So how does this flying car actually work?

The road vehicle carries the aircraft inside its rear compartment, almost like a mobile hangar on wheels. When the owner reaches a spot cleared for flying, the vehicle releases the aircraft in what the company calls a one-touch operation.

Tan Wang, Co-Founder and Vice-President of Aridge and General Manager of XPENG Design, told Khaleej Times the system relies on at least seven separate systems and more than 1,000 parts working together. Despite that complexity, he said the separation and reconnection only needs one touch from the driver.

Once the rear compartment opens, the aircraft lowers towards the ground. A specialised air suspension system helps it adjust as it touches down on different surfaces, so it can cope with ground that isn’t perfectly flat.

Coming back is just as automated. Cameras on the road vehicle spot the aircraft after it lands, and the suspension raises or lowers the vehicle so the two modules line up correctly. The vehicle then drives into position and pulls the aircraft back into its rear compartment. Wang said this whole reconnection process takes about four to five minutes.

Who is this actually for?

This is the detail that makes the Land Aircraft Carrier different from most of the flying vehicle projects you’ve probably heard about. Companies building air taxis want to sell seats on commercial flights. Aridge wants to sell the whole vehicle to one owner.

Because the aircraft folds away inside the car, owners won’t need to rent hangar space or keep a separate aircraft parked at an airport. In theory, you could park the whole thing in your own parking space, as long as it meets local parking and vehicle rules.

That’s clearly appealing to a lot of people already. Wang said Aridge has around 7,000 pre-orders globally, and about 600 of those are from buyers in the GCC region. We don’t yet know how many, if any, are specifically from Kuwait, but the regional interest is already significant.

What paperwork does it need before anyone can fly it?

Buying the vehicle and actually flying it are two different things. Owning a Land Aircraft Carrier won’t let anyone take off whenever they feel like it. The aircraft still needs formal approval before it’s allowed in the air.

Wang explained that Aridge first needs type certification from China’s Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which is the Chinese equivalent of an aviation safety regulator. Once that’s secured, the company plans to seek validation from the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), so the aircraft can be legally recognised for use in UAE airspace.