Watch Ehang's Self-Flying Drone Carry Human Passengers

Two years after its debut at CE, the hang 184 drone is proving that

it's more than just a cool stage prop.

On Monday, the Chinese company released new footage of the drone in several test flights that carried actual human passengers from one point to the next.

"Performing manned test flights enables us to demonstrate the safety and stability of our vehicles," said Ehang's CEO Hu Huazhi in a statement.

Although the Ehang 184 is called a drone, it's essentially a mini helicopter that's designed to fly a human passenger all on its own. The vehicle runs on four propellers and is completely electric. When it debuted in Jan. 2016, EHang said it was only capable of flying for about 25 minutes at a cruising speed of 60 miles per hour. It also could only carry one passenger, or at most 220 pounds of weight.

However, the new footage shows the hang capable of carrying two people or a total of 460 pounds. The company also managed to successfully fly the drone at a higher cruising speed at 80 miles per hour, and complete a "routed test flight" that covered 9 miles.