Clear skies ahead for aviation industry

By Cang Wei and Song Wenwei in Nanjing (China Daily) Updated: 2012-10-02 09:57

A pilot with Ruohang Transportation Development Co flies a helicopter. [Photo/China Daily]

On a recent day, four people registered to study in Ruohang's flight school. But only two of them passed a mandatory health examination.

"To guarantee the safety of flyers and passengers, strict health checks must be carried out," Lu said.

More than 10 general aviation companies now offer the type of training people must undergo if they want to obtain a private flying license in China. Of those, half are qualified to provide the training needed for a commercial license.

Entrepreneurs seem to think the demand for those services will only increase. More than 100 companies are waiting for China's aviation management departments to approve their requests to enter the general aviation market.

In 2010, a Shanghai general aviation company opened flight schools near Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang province. As a special service, it said it would even take its training sessions to the homes of businessmen who lead hectic lives.

Huaxi village in Jiangyin, a city in Jiangsu province, established a general aviation company in July. The business has since spent more than 100 million yuan to purchase two helicopters and construct a general aviation airport.

Another flight school has also been opened in Huai'an, a Jiangsu province city that is about 200 kilometers away from Nanjing.

Lu said the industry will not see much fierce competition in the next three to five years, even though many companies have swarmed into it.

"China's general aviation industry is in its initial stage. Every company is in charge of a region and no one has acquired a large market share."

People who want to fly in Chinese airspace and have a pilot's license and an aircraft have only started on their way to their goal. To reach it, they also must obtain a document certifying the safety of the particular vehicle they plan to fly and similar documents.

They also must obtain an approval of their flight routes.

The requirements are cumbersome, so much so that some people don't bother with trying to comply with them.

"As far as I know, there are as many unregistered general aviation aircrafts as there are registered ones in the Yangtze River Delta," Lu said.

The Shanghai-based magazine Xinmin Weekly has reported that billionaires had started to fly in Zhejiang province as early as 2010 without certificates.

Zhu Songbin, a Zhejiang millionaire who owns 10 aircrafts, is among the many people who don't have the certificates they need to fly but do it anyway.

"Spending 2 million yuan to buy an aircraft means nothing to many businesspeople, but the approval process is too much of an annoyance," said Zhu. "It's no longer a secret in the industry that people fly without licenses."

Students learn about the interior of a helicopter at Ruohang. [Photo/China Daily]