A prototype of the AS700 multipurpose civilian airship conducted a test flight on Thursday to demonstrate its potential in aerial sightseeing, according to State-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China, the nation's leading aircraft maker.

It took off from Jingmen Zhanghe Airport in Hubei province at 9:19 am and landed at the same airport after staying airborne for nearly two hours.

During the test flight, two pilots operated the airship as it flew about 500 meters above several scenic sites at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, AVIC said in a news release.

In the next steps of the program, project managers plan to carry out pilot and ground personnel training and help authorities draft rules governing aerial sightseeing, it said.

Designed and built by the Special Aircraft Research Institute, an AVIC subsidiary in Jingmen, the AS700's research and development started in August 2018, with the main aim of meeting tourist demand for sightseeing air tours.

Propelled by piston engines, the airship has a maximum takeoff weight of 4.15 metric tons and a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

The craft can carry one pilot and nine tourists and is capable of flying 700 kilometers and staying in the air for up to 10 hours.

There are three prototypes: the first was built as an unmanned platform for technology demonstration and completed all of its assigned test flights; the second and third are crewed and tasked with making test flights for certification procedures.

After intensive test flights, the AS700 received type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China in December, becoming the first manned airship in the country to be domestically certified.

Type certificate is an approval document issued by CAAC after a set of strict test procedures, and is one of the most important documents any civilian aircraft needs to obtain to make sure its design and performance meet standards.

Besides its potential in tourism, the AS700 will also be suitable for a wide range of civilian operations such as mineral prospecting, marine surveillance, police patrol, cargo transport and emergency rescue, designers have said.

AVIC had received orders for 18 AS700s and deliveries are expected to begin before the end of this year, according to Du Wei, a senior engineer at AVIC and project manager for the AS700.