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Diamond Aircraft DA40s are manufactured in China
Ready foR
take-off
General aviation in China could be on the verge
of massive growth – but infrastructure and
airspace restrictions need to be overcome
What to do during
your Hong Kong
down time
Survival GuiDE p14
Diamond Aircraft
by SIVa GoVINdaSaMy
While most of the attention
has been on China’s business
aviation industry
amid the country’s rapid
economic development, the ongoing
economic crisis and domestic demand
means that its general aviation sector
arguably has greater potential.
There are numerous regulatory hurdles.
China is reviewing many of the
rules as part of a broader review of the
aerospace industry, and taking the industry’s
views on board as it does. But
this process will take time, especially
given the military’s close links to the
aerospace industry.
There is a shortage of infrastructure
away from the coastal economic centres.
The government is investing more in airports
and related infrastructure as part of
a stimulus package in this economic crisis,
and in an attempt to improve accessibility
in the country. However, it will
be years before the effects are visible.
General aviation contributed only
0.001% to the gross domestic product
and employed 7,000 people in 2007.
China has around 900 privately registered
aircraft and 74 operators – about a tenth
of the number in Australia, which has
only 2% of China’s population. There are
few small airports, and most of these are
either unable to handle general aviation
aircraft or they are not allowed to.
Yet, in many ways, China is much
like the USA several decades ago. It has
a large population spread across a wide
geographical region. A proliferation of
airlines has led to growing demand for
pilots, and therefore flying schools. In-
general aviation
terest in light sport aviation is just taking
off. The use of helicopters in the
civil sector is starting to grow, especially
in the search and rescue segment.
In the USA, the General Aviation
Manufacturers Association says that
there are 231,000 general aviation aircraft
in the country, and that the sector
employed more than 1.3 million people
and contributed over $150 billion,
around 1%, of the US GDP.
There are nearly 4,000 paved general
aviation airports in the USA, compared
with 500 for scheduled airlines.
Much of this is due to lobby groups
such as GAMA and the National Business
Aviation Association, which regu-
“General aviation
improves transport,
supplementing infrequent
airline services”
keVIN Wu
Textron China vice-president
larly engage the authorities on issues
that affect their constituency. While
there have been attempts to form similar
organisations in China, these have
been largely ineffective. So it is up to
the industry to push the benefits.
“General aviation improves China’s
transportation system, supplementing
infrequent airline services in smaller markets
and providing services to communities
without airline services,” says Kevin
Wu, vice-president of Textron China.
“It also enhances economic development
in regions where the road system
is undeveloped or congested with traf-
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