The aviation industry is set to spread its wings rapidly with the rising use of small aircraft and a boost from the authorities.

Apart from scheduled and military flights general aviation encompasses almost everything that flies -- ranging from corporate jets, charter companies catering for businesses, air taxis,  crop-dusting, cloud seeding and aerial photography.

"Flight has many advantages such as flexibility and efficiency," said Wu Changping, director of the general aviation division of the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC). "The proper development of the country's civil aviation sector needs a balanced growth of scheduled and general aviation operations." 

There was an increasing need for business flights and air taxi services to keep pace with China's growing economy, Wu said, "More multinational companies are opening offices in China and more of our companies are expanding," he added. "They all need flights other than those provided by airlines."

Globally it's estimated there are around 340,000 general aviation aircraft making up 97 percent of the 350,000 civil aircraft. But in China the figures are completely different with the number of general aircraft less than half of the total. .

CAAC statistics show that at the end of 2005 there were more than 600 general aviation aircraft in China which between them chalked up around 80,000 flight hours last year.

In contrast, there are at least 220,000 small airplanes in the United States, which carry 133 million passengers each year to more than 19,000 airports and heliports, according to  www.gaservingamerica.org, a US website on general aviation.

Another difference is that 70 percent of general aviation flight hours in the US are business-related while a majority of the small airplanes in China are used in agriculture, forestry and industries such offshore drilling and mineral exploration. The reasons for the differences are many.

"First, we lack airports and pilots," said Yang Jie, a member of the general aviation expert committee under the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Apart from makeshift airstrips where small planes can take off and land there's only 57 airports for general aviation use and 126 used for scheduled flights, according to Yang. He also pointed out that there's a shortage of around 1,000 pilots for small airplanes adding that China had only 13 pilot training schools.

Another important factor was availability of airspace. "General flights need to get approval from the authorities," Yang said. "The process used to take at least two weeks but now it can be done in half a day." This sort of change makes Yang confident about the future of general aviation.

The expert estimated that China would have 10,000 general aircraft by 2020 and their flight hours will be three times more than that in 2005 hitting 260,000 flight hours by 2015.

The CAAC has made general aviation a priority in the 11th Five-Year Guidelines (2006-10). It expects the sector to grow by at least 10 percent year on year and with growth in a variety of sectors.

Interestingly is has been pointed out by Jiao Tianli, an organizer of China's first general aviation industry exposition to be held in Binzhou of Shandong in May that currently 70 percent of all general flight hours are in fact devoted to agriculture. 

(China Daily March 16, 2006)