EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW: YI-TONG

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Have industry players been quick to adapt technology to cater to the changing demand in the market?

With the development of the changing demand in the market, the industry players are facing new opportunities and challenges. The industry players need to improve technology quickly enough to adopt to the changing market, develop its own UAV industry chain and broaden the application scenarios of UAV.

It is predicted that in the next 10 years the Chinese market will require over 6600 large unmanned transport aircraft to meet the needs of the rapidly developing aviation logistics network construction. The market demand is enormous, and Yitong UAV was established in response to the market demand.

We concentrates on providing safe economical and reliable large unmanned transport aircraft to global customers. In the research and development process of TP and TR series products, we actively integrate various suppliers worldwide and are committed to delivering the best product. Yitong has currently launched the TP series fixed wing large unmanned transport aircraft TP500, as well as the vertical takeoff and landing unmanned transport aircraft TR100. The TR100, as a vertical takeoff and landing fixed wing aircraft, has significantly upgraded payload capacity, while operating cost considerably low.

In which areas and geographies do you see strongest potential for growth?

With the continuous growth of the market and the continuous improvement of the application scenarios, the global drone industry is developing rapidly. At present, the global drone market is mainly distributed in Europe, America and the Asia-Pacific region. These areas have more frequent industrial and agricultural activities with closer geographic connections.

However, we also have plans to deploy aircraft in the mountainous and plateau areas of western China, where residents have a strong demand for efficient logistics. We hope that our products can help them more effectively.

What technologies do you predict will impact the drones and UAV industry the most in the next five years?

We believe that innovation in various components of electric aircraft will have a great impact, especially in the power sector where longer endurance is the key for such products.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence as an emerging technology is widely used in various fields. The application of artificial intelligence will also bring new impetus to the development of the drone industry.
Finally, different aerodynamic layouts also have different possibilities, and we can expect more diverse aircraft to emerge in the future.

How can new technology support the air traffic capacity growth?

The vast majority of countries in the world cannot afford the cost of large cargo planes, nor do they have such a huge demand for cargo. TP and TR series products target the regional air cargo market and the vertical takeoff and landing characteristics of TR100 make it suitable for various terrains. TP series products also have extremely low requirements for takeoff sites. In the future, TP and TR series products will greatly increase the regional air cargo capacity with more cost-effective solutions.

What are your expectations from Dubai Airshow 2023?

As a young company established in 2021, our vision is to become a main player in the unmanned air logistic industry based upon the company's core competitiveness and product technology. Through rapid innovation and performance improvement, we are dedicated to manufacture a global leading brand of intelligent UAV.
We expect to widely present the performance and application of our different products to as many customers and audience as possible during the Dubai Airshow 2023; better display our products in an all-round way, deepen the understanding of YiTong UAV.

While the air show bring together customers from various application fields around the world, we’d like to contact potential users as more as possible, collecting their needs and suggestions, which will help us improve our products.

Lastly, what are your company’s visions in the region?

We plan to send business delegations to negotiate with the potential partners, investigate product application scenarios, understand the market demand and strive to develop the local market together. According to the plan, we will organize several demonstration flights in the Middle East region in 2024, and it is also necessary to familiarize with the local situation.