|
General aviation sector reaches for sky
BEIJING -- As part of the
effort, the China General Aviation Convention will be held October 26-27
at the China Aviation Industrial Base (CAIB) in Xi'an, capital of
Northwest Shaanxi Province.
"The convention, jointly sponsored by China Aviation Institute and CAIB,
attracts a number of foreign general aviation companies such as Michelin
Aircraft Tire Company and Canadian Pratt & Whitney Engine Company and
many domestic aviation companies," Li Nan, deputy secretary-general of
China's Aviation Institute, said.
According to Li, the convention will focus on market expansion,
including agricultural and forestry spraying, aerial surveys and
geological exploration, the artificial intervention of weather, flight
training and the soon-to-be-launched market of general aircraft leasing
and financing.
Besides scheduled passenger and cargo flights, general aviation provides
services for industry (including sea oil development), agriculture,
forestry and construction, as well as medical rescues, disaster rescues,
meteorological exploration, marine monitoring, scientific experiments,
education and training as well as culture and sport.
Statistics show that the general aviation sector is larger than
scheduled passenger and cargo services sector. At present, globally
there are 336,000 general aircraft with more than 700,000 pilots working
in the service, while there are only some 60,000 aircraft with 40,000
pilots for scheduled passenger and cargo services.
A forecast made by China's civil aviation sector showed that China will
need up to 12,000 general aircraft by 2012.
"However, China has only some 500 aircraft for general aviation purposes
at present," Jin Qiansheng, director of the management committee of CAIB,
said.
Jin told China Daily that his base, established in August, 2004 was
perfectly placed to help boost the sector.
"We have introduced six aircraft manufacturing companies into our base
and 12 types of aircrafts, all for general aviation, which will be
developed and produced by the firms," he said.
—The Daily Mail, China Daily news exchange item |
