Government and Policy
Pinggu proposes to offer airspace to private planes
By Cheng Yingqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-01-08 09:17
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BEIJING - In a national first, a suburban district in the capital city plans to allow private jets to fly in its low-altitude airspace in the second half of 2011.
The Beijing Morning Post quoted Zheng Jifu, head of the Pinggu district, as saying on Friday that the district government is planning to open the airspace, always tightly controlled in China, to amateur pilots.
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Pinggu covers an area of 1,075 square kilometers in northeastern Beijing, with its north, east and south covered in mountains while its central and southwestern parts are mainly flat.
The move came after the State Council and the Central Military Commission jointly issued a circular in November 2010 allowing the opening of some of the country's low-altitude airspace - up to 1,000 meters - to private planes.
Previously, aircraft had to get approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for every proposed journey, which often takes a long time. Pilots who broke the rules would be fined up to 100,000 yuan ($15,000).
But this did not stop China's nouveau riche from reaching for the skies. There are thought to be 1,000 general aviation planes in China. They are defined as flights that are neither military nor from scheduled airlines and include civilian flights and those for such things as rescue missions, offshore exploration and aerial photography.
The government of Xi'an, in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, decided to open low-altitude airspace to touring aircraft last year instead of private planes.
However Pinggu's plan remains "an intention", an official surnamed Yu with the publicity department of the Pinggu government, told China Daily on Friday.
"A specific program has yet to be drawn up and we have to first get permission from the relevant departments at higher levels," Yu said.
Li Rui, a staff member with the Beijing Flying-Man Aviation Sport Equipment Co, said opening airspace in Pinggu would be "great for civil aviation".
"Aviation amateurs usually organize flying activities at a limited number of bases outside Beijing, but they lose interest due to the long flight time. If they can fly legally in Beijing, they will have more choices and much more fun," Li said.
Han Jinfeng, who sells small planes, said he was hoping the low-altitude airspace would be opened soon.
"When the lifting of the ban on using low-altitude airspace was announced last year, I received many calls every day concerning private aircraft. But most potential buyers chose to wait and see due to the lack of practical regulation of private aircraft," he said.
Han is the deputy manager of the sales department of the Beijing Keyuan Light Aircraft Industrial Company, a plane producer that is capable of manufacturing 100 small planes a year. They sell for 400,000 yuan each. He said production volume would not meet demand if low-altitude airspace were completely open.
Zhao Jian, a transportation professor with the Beijing Jiaotong University, said the government should respond to the increasing demand for private aircraft.
"Some people worry that opening airspace will create loopholes for terrorists. The concern is unnecessary because breaking through aviation security checks is far more difficult than in other modes of transport such as the subway and buses," Zhao said.
He also suggested opening airspace to smaller airline companies to accelerate the development of civil aviation.