A team of young drone operators in Kunshan City, east China's Jiangsu Province, is embracing the promising future of the low-altitude economy at home and abroad.

With the development of the unmanned aerial vehicle industry, drone pilots have become a new occupation for young professionals to take part in drone-related research, development and tests.

The team of drone pilots, most of whom were born after 2000, conducts test flights of drones every day. They cooperate well with each other to operate drones and collect data about the aircraft in different conditions.

Wang Jihao, the 26-year-old leader of the 27-member team, said the test flight is the last step before a drone is delivered to its buyer, so they need to make a lot of preparations for the test flight.

"Our preparatory meeting will conclude with a plan for the next day's flight task. It covers the status of aircraft and operators, the meteorological conditions and even the movements during the flight," said Wang.

Besides Kunshan, the team also has carried out test flights in other places like Taizhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, where they operated a drone to fly more than 50 kilometers from the downtown to Dachen Island and return. The round-trip test aimed to verify the operation capability of the drone to ensure regular cross-sea drone delivery service for the Dachen Island in the future.

The team also conducted a drone flight in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, despite meteorological challenges in the desert area such as high temperatures.

A map in the meeting room records the footprint of the drone pilots.

"In 2025, we set off from the Kunshan base, and flew approximately 45,000 kilometers in nearly 1,000 flights by year-end. So, in total, the mileage exceeded the circumference of our Earth," said Wang.

With great passion for drone flights, the pilots take more pride in performing significant tasks.

On Feb 5, the team operated China's first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with a takeoff weight exceeding five tons, and completed its first public flight.