China's general aviation industry has rosy prospects but its development remains slow.
Such
a contrast between dreams and reality has resulted in mixed feelings at
the China International General Aviation Convention, which closed on
Sunday in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province.
At
the convention, Xia Xinghua, vice minister of the Civil Aviation
Administration of China, said that the country currently has 178
companies, 399 airports or vertipads and 1,610 jets registered for
general aviation. And the number of jets is expected to hit 10,000 by
2020, which means an annual compound growth of 22 percent.
Zhu
Shicai, an official with the state air traffic control commission, said
that the government was expecting general aviation to be the next
driving force for the Chinese economy after the auto industry.
Since
the State Council, China's cabinet, and the military authority jointly
decided in November 2010 to gradually open up the country's low-altitude
airspace to general aviation, various pilot projects have been launched
in China, including in Xi'an and Chongqing.
General aviation,
which refers to flights other than military and scheduled airline and
regular cargo flights for both private and commercial purposes, has
sparked Chinese people's flying dreams.
Official statistics
showed that an aggregate fund of 400 million yuan (about 65.6 million
U.S. dollars) has been allocated to 64 enterprises engaged in general
aviation for pilot training, facilitating purchases and the support of
public services such as emergency rescue, aerial shots and public
promotion from the start of 2010 to the end of 2012.
As of July
31, China's Development and Reform Commission has approved 10
state-level high-tech aerospace industry bases, while 116 general
aviation industrial parks are under construction or in design phases.
Early
movers include the Aviation Industry Corp. of China, the country's
largest state-owned aircraft producer, which has launched the China
Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., Ltd (CAIGA) in Zhuhai in an
effort to build a whole industrial chain for general aviation, said Song
Qingguo, vice president with the CAIGA, at the convention.
Carl
Brewer, Mayor of Wichita of the United States, also promoted his city at
the convention in the hopes of helping more Wichita companies enter the
aviation market in China.
To tap China's burgeoning general
aviation market, Brewer said his city, known as the world's aviation
town, had opened the Wichita Aviation Office of China in Beijing.
Given
that China currently has more than 1,000 general aircraft in use, far
below the 23,000 in the United States, Gao Yuanyang, vice
secretary-general with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of
China, said that the potential of China's generation market is "really
beyond imagination."
In sharp contrast with the enthusiasm,
however, are the calls of industry analysts for prudent investment and
the warning that the sector will remain stuck in the slow lane if
deep-rooted problems are not addressed.
Song Qingguo with the
CAIGA attributed the rapid rise of America's general aviation industry
to the demobilization of a great deal of Air Force pilots after World
War II and the steady expansion of the middle class.
In contrast,
circumstances do not favor Chinese general aviation so much. "Besides
the question of airspace and shortage of jets, China is facing an
extreme shortfall in general aviation pilots and ground service support.
All of these are decisive factors affecting when a market blowup will
happen," said Song.
According to Wang Fuhou, who heads Minsheng
Financial Leasing Company's aircraft leasing business in North China,
industrial capital and financial institutions have lost enthusiasm when
it comes to investing in the general aviation.
"An impending
issue facing the industry is how to ditch the traditional concept of
serving only governments and tap the potential of individuals and
corporate clients. This is an irresistible trend," added Wang.
"What
we are dealing with here is a very specialized sector whose development
heavily depends more on professionalism and policy support," said Gao
Yuanyang.
As the industry is still in its infancy stage, Mayor
Brewer suggested that China should make more efforts to educate its
citizens on the safety and benefits of general aviation aircraft,
develop regulations for safe and efficient aircraft operations and
continue to borrow the best practices worldwide.
To lure more
Chinese into general aviation and cultivate a culture of flight, Song
Qingguo said the CAIGA has been preparing to establish a club for
aviation fans this year. By 2015, he hopes that the club will be
developed into China's first nationwide aviation entity.
Although
it is too early to tell when China's general aviation will enter the
fast track, analysts say it is exciting to see more Chinese become
passionate about flight.
"The dream of flying, of course, begins with young children and continues with the older generations," said Brewer.
Source: http://www.ecns.cn
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