China's Cityfly Boom Turns Scenic Flights Into a Growing Tourism Business

From bamboo hills to tropical coastlines

Sanya recorded about 287,000 participants in low altitude tourism in the first half of 2024, up 112 percent from a year earlier, according to official tallies. The activity generated more than 730 million yuan in revenue and created around 2,300 jobs. In eastern China's Zhejiang Province, a paragliding base at Mogan Mountain has grown from fewer than 10,000 annual visitors after opening in 2019 to more than 100,000 today, its managers say.

Those figures capture the rise of Cityfly, a shorthand across China for exploring cities and scenic destinations from the air. Paragliding over bamboo forests, skydiving above tropical water and taking helicopter circuits over canyons are becoming bookable weekend activities rather than occasional adventures for a small group of enthusiasts.

Young travelers are helping drive the change. Short flights offer a new view of familiar landscapes and photographs to share on social media. Operators increasingly package the experience into an hour or two, including transfers, a safety briefing and the flight itself, allowing visitors to fit an aerial outing into a short holiday.

Lower prices, local government support and new aircraft types are expanding the market. Some bases that once served a handful of enthusiasts now operate hundreds of daily sorties during peak seasons. A sortie means one flight, so a busy base can send aircraft or participants into the air repeatedly throughout the day.

China's tourism destinations are responding with new routes and launch sites. The emerging business reaches beyond the flight ticket: instructors, maintenance crews, photographers, nearby guesthouses and transport providers all have a role in turning a brief aerial experience into a regular tourism product.

What counts as low altitude tourism?

Low altitude tourism covers paid civilian flight experiences using airspace generally below about 1,000 meters. Products include tandem paragliding, skydiving, flights using a powered paraglider known as a paramotor, scenic helicopter circuits, and rides in small planes or amphibious seaplanes over lakes and coastlines.

Short journeys close to the ground give passengers detailed views of landmarks. The same airspace also accommodates drone services and aerial filming, which often share infrastructure with tourism businesses. Managing that shared space becomes more demanding as the number of users grows.

Compact airstrips, helipads and hillside launch platforms usually sit near popular viewing points. Some cities publish flight corridors that separate traffic from sensitive areas and approve fixed circuits for daylight operation when weather conditions permit.

Travel apps make booking familiar: visitors choose a time slot, review a short safety checklist and arrive with identification. Operators aim to deliver a manageable, photogenic experience that fits a tight itinerary, while retaining the checks needed before anyone takes off.

Zhejiang builds routes around its hills and lakes

Mogan Mountain in Deqing County illustrates how a single attraction can grow into a larger destination business. Its paragliding base opened in 2019, and the rise from fewer than 10,000 annual visitors to more than 100,000 represents an increase of more than tenfold, using the figures given by its managers.

Huzhou, the city administering Deqing, launched 16 low altitude flight routes connecting seven sites during the recent eight day National Day and Mid Autumn Festival holiday. The routes link hills and lakes, widening the range of places visitors can experience from above.

Deqing and neighboring Anji are provincial pilot zones for the low altitude economy. The designation puts public agencies and private operators together in efforts to develop a lasting market, including work on airspace, training and safety compliance.

Li Duo, a traveler in her early twenties from Shanghai, was among the first time visitors taking a tandem flight from the Mogan Mountain ridge. She described an exhilarating takeoff followed by a surprisingly calm experience once airborne.

It is simply breathtaking to glide over the rolling bamboo forests and tea gardens while the wind roars in my ears. It unlocked a new perspective for me and gave me some incredible photos.

Students, young professionals and families are increasingly planning trips around one aerial adventure. Their photographs and accounts circulate online, encouraging other travelers to try a flight and helping draw demand toward new destinations.

Sanya turns coastal views into tourism revenue

Sanya, the resort city in Hainan, has made skydiving a prominent part of its tourism mix. Its roughly 287,000 low altitude tourism participants in the first half of 2024 were more than double the number a year earlier, reflected in the official growth rate of 112 percent.

A major skydiving base in the city reported approximately 6,000 customers during the first quarter of 2025, with steady growth afterward. Scenic helicopter flights along the coastline and over nearby islands are giving visitors other ways to experience the destination from the air.

Sanya's revenue of more than 730 million yuan and around 2,300 jobs shows the activity's reach beyond ticket sales. Flight operations require people to prepare equipment, manage passengers, maintain aircraft and coordinate departures, while surrounding businesses receive additional visitors.

Liao Jian, operations director of the Wuzhizhou Island tourism zone in Sanya, described how aerial experiences meet a demand that conventional sightseeing leaves open.

By transforming travel from a two dimensional to a three dimensional experience, low altitude tourism has bridged a gap in the market and injected new momentum into tourism consumption.

Helicopter circuits and skydiving provide different experiences, but both add another way to see the coast. The expanding product mix also allows destinations to appeal to visitors with different budgets and preferences.

National policy brings more businesses into the air

China placed the low altitude economy on its national agenda in the 2024 government work report, presenting it as a new engine for growth. The endorsement accelerated local experiments, licensing activity and investment.

Civil aviation planners estimate that the broader sector could reach about 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025 and expand toward 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035. Those projections cover the low altitude economy, which includes tourism alongside activities such as drone services and aerial filming.

Business registrations show the pace of interest. China has roughly 89,000 active enterprises connected to low altitude activity. Around 11,700 firms registered in the first five months of 2025, with the surge from a year earlier taking that figure above the total for all of 2024.

Local governments are interested in flight corridors that spread visitors across scenic areas and bring spending into smaller towns. Zhejiang, Hainan and other provinces are introducing pilot programs covering airspace, training and safety compliance as businesses expand.

The milestones stretch across several years:

• 2019: The Mogan Mountain paragliding base opened in Deqing County.
• 2023: Civil aviation records showed more than 1.26 million registered civilian drones and thousands of drone firms.
• 2024: The government work report put the low altitude economy on the national agenda.
• First half of 2024: Sanya recorded about 287,000 low altitude tourism participants.
• First quarter of 2025: A major Sanya skydiving base served roughly 6,000 customers.
• March 2025: EHang received approval to carry passengers commercially with its EH216 S aircraft.
• First five months of 2025: Around 11,700 businesses connected to low altitude activity registered across China.

Lower prices widen the customer base

Zhao Yuehua, an expert at the aviation industry research center under China Development Observation, said prices had been a difficult barrier a decade ago. He described how the cost of a flight has changed.

Flight costs have plummeted from around 3,000 yuan per person a decade ago to about 1,000 yuan today.

The figures represent a reduction of about two thirds. That change puts an aerial experience within reach of more urban travelers and gives operators a larger pool of potential customers.

Prices still depend on the location and type of flight. A tandem paraglide in a mountain county often starts near 1,000 yuan, including equipment and instructor time. Skydiving over a beach can cost several thousand yuan, with the altitude and photography or video package affecting the bill.

Short helicopter sightseeing circuits in major cities are often sold by the seat. Some offer sunrise or night flights. For many first time passengers, the change is that a flight can now fit into a weekend budget instead of requiring a much larger holiday expense.

Bookings follow familiar tourism patterns. Weekday discounts encourage demand, while holidays bring peak prices. Operators sell fixed time slots and set cancellation policies around wind, cloud height and rain. Groups may combine a flight with a spa visit, winery outing or hot spring stay.

Electric aircraft prepare for sightseeing services

EHang received regulatory approval in March 2025 to carry passengers commercially in its EH216 S electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Often shortened to eVTOL, the term describes an aircraft that uses electricity and can rise and land vertically rather than needing a conventional runway.

Trial services are planned in Guangzhou and Hefei, with short journeys on preset routes across riverfronts and business districts. Electric power and multiple small rotors can reduce noise and allow departures from compact pads compared with conventional helicopters.

Tourism operators are planning small fleets at landmark attractions in several provinces. The intended approach is to start with a handful of aircraft and expand toward dozens if demand remains steady. Visitors would get a smooth, nearly silent ascent and broad views without a long transfer to a distant airfield.

Automated flight controls work alongside a monitored ground system. Teams at the site manage weather checks, passenger handling and safety around the landing pad. The aircraft's automation therefore sits within a wider operation involving staff and ground equipment.

A collaboration in Zhejiang aims to introduce eVTOL sightseeing at attractions including glass walkways beside cliffs and cavern parks. Its planned tourism platform would coordinate ticketing, crowd management and flight operations. No launch dates are given for that collaboration or the planned trial services in Guangzhou and Hefei.

Keeping a crowded sky orderly

China is introducing networked traffic management to give regulators and operators a live view of aircraft locations. The aim is to prevent collisions between aircraft and drones and keep flights outside restricted areas.

Remote identification beacons help identify a flying aircraft. Digital boundaries, often called geofencing, can mark areas where it should not fly, while altitude limits control how high it can go. These measures can be applied to sightseeing aircraft carrying crews as well as drones.

Telecommunications carriers are upgrading to 5G Advanced to provide faster, more reliable connections for live video, aircraft data and control links. Telemetry means measurements sent from an aircraft to its operators, helping them monitor its condition and movement.

Sites without strong mobile coverage rely on dedicated radio systems and weather stations at the operating location. Civil aviation records showing more than 1.26 million registered civilian drones and thousands of drone firms in 2023 illustrate why shared standards matter near busy cities.

Safety determines when flights can happen

Paragliding crews brief passengers on harnesses, landing positions and hand signals before takeoff. Skydiving instructors explain how to leave the aircraft and handle the parachute canopy in a hangar before participants put on their equipment.

Helicopter operators enforce weight and balance limits and check seat belts. Weight and balance rules govern how passengers and other loads are distributed so the aircraft can operate safely.

Weather can stop any of these experiences. Flights pause when gusts become too strong or clouds move below the required minimum height. The scheduled time in a booking app remains subject to the conditions at the launch site.

Permits and audits are used to raise operating standards. Operators must have certified pilots and instructors, maintain aircraft according to schedule and buy insurance covering passengers.

Travelers can check the company's certificate, read safety guidance in the booking app, and arrive in snug clothing and closed shoes. Photography is part of the attraction, but the crew's instructions take priority throughout the experience.

Destinations need people and infrastructure

Low altitude tourism creates work for pilots, people who prepare parachutes and other equipment, photographers, dispatchers, mechanics and staff directing activity around landing pads. Cafes, guesthouses and local transport providers near launch sites benefit from the additional traffic.

Operators in rural counties have revived idle airstrips and old reservoirs by combining flight activities with nature parks. The attraction gives visitors another reason to travel to a place and spend time in its surrounding communities.

More cities are expected to develop dedicated corridors connecting waterfronts, business districts and scenic hills. Plans also envisage eVTOL pads beside ferry piers and metro connections, allowing visitors to move between ground transport and a flight within minutes.

Several provinces are planning networks connecting airports, tourist attractions, medical facilities and emergency response teams. Those shared networks are also intended to make sightseeing schedules more reliable.

At a recent briefing connected to a major expo in Guangzhou, an airline veteran and general aviation executive argued that the Greater Bay Area's immediate priorities were basic facilities and trained people.

Infrastructure and talents are the most urgent issues to be addressed for the low altitude sector in the Greater Bay Area.

China's expanding routes, lower prices and electric aircraft plans are bringing more visitors into the air. Delivering those experiences repeatedly depends on the ground teams, maintenance, weather checks and traffic systems that support every departure.

At a Glance

• Sanya recorded about 287,000 low altitude tourism participants in the first half of 2024, up 112 percent, generating more than 730 million yuan and around 2,300 jobs.
• Mogan Mountain's paragliding base grew from fewer than 10,000 annual visitors after opening in 2019 to more than 100,000 today.
• Huzhou launched 16 flight routes connecting seven sites during the recent eight day holiday.
• China has roughly 89,000 enterprises connected to low altitude activity, including around 11,700 registered in the first five months of 2025.
• Civil aviation planners project a broader sector worth about 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025 and 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.
• Zhao Yuehua said flight costs fell from around 3,000 yuan per person a decade ago to about 1,000 yuan today.
• EHang received commercial passenger approval for its EH216 S in March 2025, with trial services planned in Guangzhou and Hefei.
• Weather, certified personnel, aircraft maintenance and traffic management remain central to flight operations.