Sri Lanka's model: validate, don't reinvent

CAASL isn't writing a new autonomous-aviation rulebook from scratch. It has adopted EHang's "Global Fast Track Programme," which asks a host regulator to validate an aircraft that another authority — China's CAAC — has already certified, rather than developing certification standards independently. That's a materially faster path, provided the host regulator is comfortable relying on the exporting country's original safety case.

Fast-track, four phases

1
Align regulatory requirements
2
Build sandbox & infrastructure
3
Validation flights
4
Commercial service

Sri Lanka is the first country to formally take up the programme (19 August 2026), targeting a working sandbox at Port City within roughly four months — a date CAASL's own Director General has been careful to call a target, not a guarantee. Hong Kong is running a parallel but distinct track: its "Regulatory Sandbox X" is gathering operational data from the same EH216-S aircraft while the territory drafts its own dedicated legislation for non-conventional aircraft, targeted for completion in 2027. Smaller regulators tend toward the first model; larger, better-resourced ones toward the second.

Why the US route is slower

The FAA doesn't have an equivalent fast-track option for a foreign-certified aircraft of this kind, and runs its own five-stage certification process for any new aircraft type. Stage 4 ("Testing and Analysis") is where the bulk of flight testing happens; Stage 5 is the FAA's own review and sign-off, and does not run on the manufacturer's clock. Our reporting on Joby Aviation found Stage 4 only 15% complete as of May 2026, despite the company's unusually advanced flight-test campaign.

China's CAAC certified EHang's EH216-S in roughly 31 months. The FAA's own timeline for a comparable new aircraft category runs five to seven years. Analysis: "No U.S. eVTOL Will Certify in 2026"

What this means for Sri Lanka

Adopting an already-certified aircraft lets CAASL skip the multi-year rulemaking the FAA and EASA are still working through — but it also means Sri Lanka's safety assurance rests heavily on CAAC's original certification rather than independent domestic testing. That's a real trade-off, not a free lunch: it buys speed in exchange for relying on another country's regulatory judgment. Whether that trade-off holds up will depend on how CAASL's own "regulatory, technical, operational and safety assessments" — the conditions it has attached to the four-month target — actually play out.