Last December, the AS700 obtained the type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

"I have always been passionate about aviation and flying. Even when the airship was still in the draft design stage, we had set up a company to prepare for its commercial operation," said Hu Yingjie, president of Guangxi Guilin Ark General Aviation Co., Ltd.

He added that they had discovered the perfect fit of manned airship flight and low-altitude sightseeing in Yangshuo.

"Imagine a large airship more than 50 meters long and around four-to-five stories high. How amazing it will be to enjoy the Yangshuo scenery above hills and waters in a safe, steady and soothing manner aboard the airship," Hu said.

China has a huge market and dense city clusters. The size of the country's low-altitude economy is estimated to have exceeded 500 billion yuan ($70.4 billion) in 2023, with its scale expected to rise to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to the CAAC.