Gia Lai asks Vietnam's prime minister to approve an unmanned flying-taxi pilot near Quy Nhon

Vietnam.vn, citing Báo Gia Lai, reported on October 25, 2026 that the People's Committee of Gia Lai province sent the prime minister a proposal for a pilot of unmanned flying taxis, described as AAM/eVTOL, from October 2026 through the end of 2028. The article says Document No. 12979/UBND-XDCT was signed on October 21 by the chairman of the provincial people's committee, Pham Anh Tuan. The committee asks the prime minister to consider and approve the pilot, and to direct ministries to help with the legal steps. The article says the document and a draft proposal also went to the ministries of construction, national defence, public security, foreign affairs, and science and technology. That is a request. It is not an approval.

VnExpress reported on October 26 that Gia Lai has sought government approval to trial unmanned electric flying taxis near Quy Nhon over the same window. VnExpress does not print the document number or say the addressee is the prime minister. The route lengths and the three-phase shape match the Vietnam.vn account. Where the wording differs, this page keeps each outlet's version.

Two proposed routes, and no named aircraft

Vietnam.vn says the proposal starts with the Quy Nhon–Phu Cat cluster, in low-density areas and over water, on two routes. Route 1, from the Children's Park to the marina, connecting Quy Nhon ward and Quy Nhon Nam ward, is approximately 3.4 km. The article says it would be used to verify technology, operating systems, procedures, training and emergency response. Route 2, from Phu Cat Airport to the Blooming Sky Project Grand Concert Center in Cat Tien commune, is approximately 22 km. The article says it is intended to test an airport-to-destination connection and limited passenger-transport capacity. It says the number of vehicles is expected to be one or two, provided by partners.

VnExpress describes the same lengths. It calls the first leg a link from the Children's park to the marina, and the second a link from Phu Cat Airport to the Grand Music Festival Center under the Blooming Sky project in Cat Tien commune. It says the second corridor would use one or two vehicles from corporate partners to evaluate small-group transfers. This page does not treat the two English names for the Blooming Sky site as a contradiction it can resolve. Neither article names an aircraft manufacturer or a model.

Vietnam.vn says the proposal states technological neutrality and does not pre-designate the aircraft or the supplier. VnExpress likewise names no maker. This page does not add one.

Three phases, still inside a proposal

Vietnam.vn says the pilot period is not to exceed three years, divided into three phases: preparation and evaluation, without flight operations; test flights with and without cargo, carrying experts; and a pilot of limited passenger transport, plus a summary. It says a move to the next phase is allowed only after the matching safety-control milestone. VnExpress describes three phases as non-flight preparations, unloaded test flights followed by expert-led trials, and limited passenger-transport trials, with each transition depending on safety milestones. The middle phase is not worded the same way. This page does not collapse the two descriptions into one.

Both accounts say public money would cover management, independent safety assessment, training, oversight and pilot infrastructure, and that businesses would provide the aircraft, people, maintenance, insurance and incident response. Vietnam.vn also lists batteries among the business responsibilities. Vietnam.vn says paid passenger service would be allowed only after the vehicle, operator, personnel, airspace and landing strip meet the legal requirements. VnExpress says commercial passenger service would be authorized only once the aircraft, crews, airspace and vertiports meet the legal requirements. Neither article says those conditions have been met.

Vietnam.vn says the committee's document cites Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, Conclusion No. 99-KL/TW of September 28, 2026, Decision No. 509/QD-TTg, Civil Aviation Law No. 130/2025/QH15, and Clauses 1 and 4 of Article 21 of the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation No. 93/2025/QH15. Those citations are the article's account of the document. This page did not open the resolutions or the statutes. The article says current rules do not yet set a specific regime for certification, operation, vertiports, unmanned-aircraft traffic management or eVTOL passenger transport, which is why the province argues for a sandbox. That is the province's argument in the proposal. It is not a statement that a sandbox has been authorized.

Vietnam.vn says Vietnamese testing so far has focused on unmanned cargo aircraft and that there is not yet a program testing passenger aircraft. VnExpress says unmanned air taxis are currently limited to cargo trials and that no passenger-carrying test program is underway. Those are the articles' statements about the present. They are separate from whether this proposal is approved.

What is not established

The prime minister has not been reported as approving the pilot. No aircraft, operator or supplier is named. No price is stated. The October 2026 start and the end of 2028 are the window in the proposal. They are not dates of an authorized operation. No flight under this proposal is described. VnExpress adds that Hanoi earlier proposed controlled testing at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park. It does not name a company or tie that proposal to Document No. 12979. A separate page records an unapproved Hanoi application. This page does not treat the two as one event.

Sources

Facts as reported by the linked sources as of Nov 11, 2026. Company targets are plans, not guarantees. Corrections: see About.