Company aims to offer 30-minute luxury tours in passenger drones high above Hong Kong

Subsidiary of Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings seeking first-mover advantage with fleet of 30 uncrewed drones undergoing test flights over border

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Kwoon Chung Smart Mobility managing director Rex Wong at AsiaWorld-Expo. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 7:00am, 6 Nov 2024Updated: 8:25pm, 6 Nov 2024

Hong Kong’s largest non-franchised bus group hopes its pioneering order of 30 passenger drones costing more than HK$70 million (US$9 million) can provide luxury tours above the city’s skyline in three years, calling on the government to speed up the regulatory work to create the low-altitude economy.

In an interview with the Post, Rex Wong Yat-hung, managing director of Kwoon Chung Smart Mobility, a subsidiary of Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings, said the company aimed to provide tours lasting about 30 minutes via the pilotless aircraft around Hong Kong in areas such as Disneyland, Ocean Park, Cyberport, Lantau Island and Sai Kung.

“Our uncrewed aircraft fleet can take flight any time soon to facilitate the government’s bid of developing a so-called low-altitude economy, and we hope to offer leisure trips for passengers to get a taste of flying around the city,” he said.

“We are still in talks with the government over their operation in Hong Kong, and it all depends on when it is going to introduce a regulatory framework. We hope that there will be relevant legislation soon, and we can roll out this service in three years.”

Wong also revealed that The Peninsula Hong Kong hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, which has a heliport on its roof offering guests a 18-minute helicopter tour of the southern part of the city, was interested in introducing the company’s passenger drones.

“The Peninsula is interested in using these electric unmanned drones because they are much quieter than helicopters,” he said.