AVIC enjoys double boost in hot market

Leading aviation firm lands major orders and production approval for key model

China's leading aircraft manufacture has taken two major steps toward grabbing a larger share of the booming local helicopter market, after winning approval to mass-produce its latest model and landing major orders.

Aviation Industry Corporation of China announced that it won orders last week for 62 of its AC311, a new light civilian helicopter, the same day as the six-seater helicopter was granted its "type certificate" by the China's civil aviation authorities.

The newly signed orders bring the total for the AC311 to 72, including two from overseas.

Zhao Lei, director of marketing at Avicopter Corp Ltd, a joint venture between AVIC and Tianjin municipal government, aimed at selling the company's helicopters, said that gaining its type certificate "is like a birth certificate" for the AC311.

"It means the light helicopter model can now be produced on a large scale," he added.

With the certificate approved, Zhao said the company is expected to deliver the first AC311 by the end of this year to "a private-owned aviation company based in Beijing that operates business flights", although he gave no further details about the buyer.

The new aircraft is being targeted at gaining a dominant foothold in what is the fastest growing helicopter market in China: the small-sized model, used frequently by both the public and private sectors.

Among the customers already signed up for the AC311 are the police in Tianjin's Binhai New District, as well as general aviation companies that plan to buy the helicopters for operating business flights, he added.

The reason for the upsurge in China's helicopter market is that the government is opening-up and deregulating low-altitude airspace.

According to industry estimates, there are more than 150,000 potential users of private aircraft in China, mainly business aircraft and helicopters.

They suggest that China's demand for helicopters will increase to 1,000 by 2020, up from the current fleet of around 300.

AVIC has designed and will sell the AC311 as a direct rival to the French-built Eurocopter Ecureuil helicopters, and Bell's 206 JetRanger, built by the US-based Bell Helicopter, the two most successful models in the light helicopter sector.

Zhao added, that AVIC's target is to produce 400-500 AC311s over the next 20 years, as the market in China for aircraft of this size hots up.

"The country is gradually opening up its low-altitude airspace, so it will be more convenient for both general aviation companies and private owners to use helicopters in the future," he said.

In January this year, a 5-year-old boy fell on a ski slope near Zhangjiakou, a city in North China's Hebei province, and suffered serious injury.

As he needed to be transported to Beijing for surgery that local hospitals were unable to perform, Beijing Red Cross Emergency Rescue Center sent a helicopter, which took only three hours to ship the boy to a hospital in Beijing - the first time that the center used a helicopter for an emergency.

And, earlier this month, when the two-day summit meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Beijing, the city's police had two helicopters to patrol over the city three times a day.

Light helicopters have the advantages of having low maintenance costs, and can act in a great many different roles, such as flight training, aerial photography, medical aid, and forest fire prevention, added Zhao.

AVIC, considered as China's major domestic aircraft maker, is developing a series of five helicopter models, with lift-off weights ranging from 1 metric ton (the AC311 is 2 tons) to 13 tons.

Three of the five models have been granted their type certificates, while two others are on the way to gaining approval.

France's Eurocopter, which has a current market share of about 40 percent in China's business aviation sector, is also increasing its marketing efforts, setting up offices in seven cities around China, such as Wuhan, Chengdu and Harbin.

The company recently reported that China would need about 500 helicopters by the end of 2015 as the nation deregulates and opens its low-altitude airspace.

Bruno Boulnois, CEO of Eurocopter China, was reported as saying in March that, as business and private aviation has huge potential in China, the company has prepared turnkey solutions for Chinese customers.

Industry insiders said that with their good safety records and established after-sales operations, the international companies still represent serious competition for China's manufactures.

Liu Liangjun, general manager of Changsha-based GALink Aviation Technology, which has sold business jets, helicopters and aviation parts for more than 10 years in the country, said that new helicopter models will take a few years to mature, while customers, usually wealthy people, will tend to favor foreign brands that have been sold in the market for many years that have abundant records to show they are mature and safe.

"Helicopter safety performance is regarded as a factor more important than the price tag, and new helicopter models will have to need a long time to prove that to potential buyers," he said, adding that after-sales service is an important factor considered by customers.

Contact the writer at xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn.