AutoFlight flies five eVTOL aircraft in formation for 47 minutes, fully autonomous

Chinese electric aircraft developer AutoFlight has flown five of its eVTOL aircraft in one coordinated formation, a demonstration the company describes as the world's first five-aircraft formation flight of its kind.

The flights took place on 31 October and 1 November at AutoFlight's Bailian Lake Flight Test Base in Kunshan, China. The five aircraft held formation for 47 minutes, and the lead V5000 Matrix covered more than 133 kilometres (83 miles). AutoFlight said the whole flight was autonomous and required no manual intervention.

The formation combined one 5-ton V5000 Matrix with four 2-ton aircraft from the V2000 series, including the V2000CG CarryAll cargo variant and the V2000CGF CarryAll firefighting variant. Three different aircraft variants flew together.

Why flying together is the harder problem

Keeping several aircraft on a shared route is not the difficult part. Each one has to hold its position relative to the others while speed, altitude and wind keep changing, and the flight-control system has to coordinate navigation, communication and separation so that one aircraft's movement does not put another at risk.

That becomes harder when the formation mixes aircraft designs and weight classes. AutoFlight said the formation maintained stable flight and safe horizontal and vertical separation during the 1 November demonstration, despite strong winds. The company described the exercise as a test of route planning, flight control, communication and safety management across different models.

The demonstration follows an earlier flight in May 2026, when AutoFlight flew a three-aircraft formation made up of one V5000 Matrix and two V2000-series aircraft. That exercise focused on validating the interfaces between the two weight classes: communication links, route planning and flight coordination.

What the aircraft are built for

The aircraft in the latest flight are designed for work beyond passenger transport. The V2000CG CarryAll is an all-electric cargo eVTOL intended for medium- and long-distance aerial logistics. AutoFlight lists a maximum takeoff weight of 2,000 kilograms and a maximum payload of 400 kilograms.

Its lift-and-cruise layout combines dedicated rotors for vertical takeoff and landing with a wing and separate propulsion for forward flight, so it can operate without a conventional runway and cruise on wing-borne lift.

The larger V5000 Matrix is a 5-ton-class platform AutoFlight is developing for passenger and heavy-cargo applications. Its published specifications include a maximum takeoff weight of 5,700 kilograms and a maximum cruise speed of 280 kilometres per hour. The company has also presented a hybrid-electric cargo version, the V5000CGH, with a stated maximum range of 1,500 kilometres.

A step toward low-altitude networks

AutoFlight sees multi-aircraft coordination as a foundation for future Advanced Air Mobility networks. Such systems could connect longer-distance routes with regional transport and shorter last-mile services, using different aircraft according to payload and journey requirements.

The company is also exploring links between air and water transport. During the demonstrations, guests visited Sunship, AutoFlight's water-based vertiport on Dianshan Lake, and watched the formation from the lakeside.

For now the five-aircraft flight remains a technology demonstration, not a commercial transport service. But as eVTOL developers work toward broader deployment, coordinating mixed fleets autonomously is likely to matter as much as range or payload.

Source: AutoFlight, via PR Newswire.

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