Looking to the sky for success

City hopes aviation enterprises will transform its trade structure and develop new industries

Aviation in Chongqing got its start in the early 1940s, when the city served as an important base for the 1st American Volunteer Group, popularly known as the Flying Tigers, which came to the aid of China against Japanese aggression during World War II.

Decades later, the city looks to the sky again as it gears up to establish a general aviation industrial park in Liangjiang New Area. This plan is part of its ongoing industrial transformation.

General aviation covers all flights other than commercial airlines and the military, and includes private flights, air ambulance services, police aviation and air charter services.

The 8-square-kilometer industrial park has already attracted 31 foreign aviation enterprises, including the Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft and the US helicopter manufacturer Enstrom, which was acquired by Chongqing General Aviation Industry Group in 2012. Thirteen enterprises have additionally been set up by the Chongqing government.

Two helicopter assembly lines in Chongqing are expected to assemble five choppers this year and produce 50 helicopters annually in the future. Chongqing General Aviation sold 26 helicopters globally in 2013, and plans to sell 40 this year, says vice-president Wu Jisen.

Pilatus has also set up two production lines in Chongqing for its fixed-wing aircraft, the PC-6 and PC-12 passenger and cargo planes.

Transforming the industrial structure and developing new industries is vital to Chongqing.

While the city is an important industrial base in China, and the country's largest motorcycle manufacturing base, its export volume of motorbikes has declined because of the gloomy global economy in recent years, pushing the government to look to a new path.

Although Chongqing is not a traditional aviation base, it can make use of its industrial advantages in aviation materials and parts manufacturing, says Ling Yueming, director of the administrative committee of Liangjiang New Area.

General aviation is believed to be a new growth point after China decided to relax its control on low-altitude airspace in 2010.

More than 20 provincial areas or cities, including Chongqing, have devised plans to explore the general aviation industry. But the boom has yet to come, and more efforts are needed before local governments will see the industry bring real economic benefits, says Yang Fengtian, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Yang, who is also president of Shenyang Aerospace University, says China has still not solved many of the problems associated with the management of general aviation, and believes that local governments - not civil aviation authorities - should lead the development of local general aviation.

He also thinks that only an industry which involves wide public participation can really boom. In the United States, there are at least 240,000 general aviation aircraft, 70 percent of which are privately owned.

Attempts should be made to attract people such as white-collar workers and college students to join flight clubs and learn how to pilot an aircraft for fun, he says.

Li Yinghong, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says Chongqing has been right to emphasize professional training, which will be the city's big advantage as it develops general aviation.

The industrial park in Liangjiang New Area includes two schools for training pilots.

Chongqing Liangjiang Aviation Vocation School has been recruiting since September 2012 and the private institution currently has 300 students.

The Chongqing General Aviation Training Company, cofounded by the Civil Aviation Flight University of China and the Chongqing General Aviation Industry Group in 2012, will begin to recruit students this year.

With programs for private and commercial pilot licensing, plus aircraft maintenance training, the school aims to certify 300 pilots and 500 maintenance personnel each year.

The aviation industry will have a shortfall of more than 3,000 pilots within the coming five years, says Chen Bin, a researcher with the Sino-US joint venture Easyfly Aviation.

Chongqing has an ambitious plan. According to the authorities in Liangjiang New Area, the general aviation industry is expected to bring a total production value of 300 billion yuan ($48 billion; 35.5 billion euros) a year to the municipality by 2020.

It's an auspicious start for the home of the Flying Tigers.

Contact the writers throughtanyingzi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/18/2014 page19)