Taking Off With General Aviation In The 21st Century

At the NBAA Conference in Orlando, FL, the China delegation held a press conference and provided an update on their growth of General Aviation. Francis Chao Managing Director of China Civil Aviation Report moderated the conference and provided his update on the status of GA. Infrastructure is still a pacing item. For example, there is only current one slot per hour at the Beijing international airport for GA due to the quantify of commercial arrivals.

China is expanding their airport infrastructure at a growing rate. Mr. Chao indicated they were growing new airports by 15 per year and hoped to increase that amount. They were also working to consolidate their government Customs, Quarantine and Immigration processing centers to one location taking the arrival process from 1 hour to 5 minutes.

Mr. Wu Tianjun Major of Zhengzhou, is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China provided his vision and goals for general aviation. They are building out the infrastructure to have a robust General Aviation capability to support the growing business as it grows from east to west across the country. Right now the city is home to one of Foxconn plants that he said builds 70 percent of the iPhones. He views General Aviation as key to accomplishing the growth goals for the region. He is enjoying the conference and meeting and learning from the NBAA members and organizations so they can make the infrastructure and business as efficient and effective as possible.

FMI: www.chinacivilaviation.com