General Aviation in China Growing
By Alan Smith
The 2010 General Aviation Forum held in Beijing.When looking at change and economic growth in China, one first has to understand what kind of nation one is looking at. Start with the sheer size of China – in fifty years, its population has increased from a bit more than 500 million to more than one billion 328 million people. This has occurred despite government laws prohibiting marriage before the age of 29 and then limiting the number of children brought into the new family to one. As one can easily figure out, those regulations were almost impossible to enforce.
During the Second World War, China evolved from a nation loosely run by competitive warlords to the centralized country patterned after the communist Russian Soviet Union and run rigidly for years by the late Mao Tse Tung. Following Mao’s death, it was run as an isolationist, self-contained civilization by his successors in the capital of Beijing. They were determined to avoid outside, non-oriental influence.
But, as we now see, that became impossible as we moved from separate national economics to global economic alliances. The Beijing government kept trying to isolate China but failed, and the replacements of the previous reactionary government leaders have acknowledged that their huge nation could try to dominate in the economic environment rather that with the old political and military demonstrations of power. Information that was (to the government) radical and uncontrollable began to be available on the internet and government attempts to ban internet communication failed.
Of course one of the results was the emergence of individual and corporate business activity and the development of millionaires and even billionaires in China. These people and their organizations got interested in efficient and fast personal transportation and the use of light business jets began. However, general aviation in China is still in its start-up phase. At the end of 2010, there were 168 civil airports in China and general aviation airports were still in the planning stage. Compare this with the United States where there were, at that time, 800 civil airports and 19,000 general aviation airports.
Now, it is clear that the Chinese government has begun to understand that general aviation can play a significant role (as it does elsewhere in the world) in economic growth. For years Chinese airspace has been tightly controlled right down to the ground by both the military and the government. Now, airspace up to 1,000 meters has been released from control. That move alone sparked worldwide interest in the obviously emerging Chinese market. In 2010 and 2011 forums devoted to the handling of rapidly increasing business flight was held to recognize the problems stemming from restricted airport capability. It was admitted that most airports did not have service facilities for business aircraft and that severe restrictions were imposed on the takeoffs and landings of lighter and often slower business flights. For private aircraft, the filing of flight plans was often required to be done days ahead of the desired departure date. The forum insisted that steps be taken to make business aircraft flight in China convenient, flexible and safe. The 2012 forum is set for June and will be like a business convention. By the Spring of 2011, foreign business flights into China had reached well over 800 by April.
Cirrus Aircraft was recently acquired by a Chinese aircraft manufacturer. This is SR22. 25 were delivered as the T-35 to the USAF. ( Cirrus Aircraft)In another move forward, at the end of February 2011 the China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. (CIAGA) acquired the financially troubled Cirrus Aircraft Company located in Duluth, Minn. and Grand Forks, N. Dak. CIAGA is a subsidiary of China’s Aviation Corporation that has been building military aircraft and airliners for years. Construction will continue at both Cirrus facilities and CIAGA will acquire a number of Cirrus SR22’s as trainers in China’s largest flight school.
