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China's private plane owners reaching the sky
A Robinson R44 helicopter on Sunday hovered into the sky over Xianyang City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province amid applause and jubilation, marking the arising presence of private plane owners in the country's tightly-controlled airspace.
"I thought the angel had given her wings to myself when I sat in the helicopter," Luo said, "But I could fly much better and more freely than any bird in the sky."
To Chinese millionaires like Luo, they certainly have good reason to smile as the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) opened its airspace, which was once tightly controlled by the government and the military, to private aircraft owners in this world's most populous country.
China once strictly prohibited the granting of airplane license to private individuals but its policies toward private aircraft ownership were shifted after its new Regulation on Flight Control of General Aviation took effect since May 1, 2003.
The regulations greatly simplified the procedures of using and flying private aircraft while allowing private individuals into its low-altitude air domain.
"The full exploitation of our low-level airspace resources will be new priority for development of aerial industry in future," said Zhang Yaokuan, deputy director of China's Air Traffic Control Commission.
To steer the four-seat rotary-wing aircraft, Luo Xiaoping received a total of 200 hours of flight in the Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province.
Li Gang, deputy director of the Northwest China Civil Aviation Administration, said it was imperative for China to open up its airspace on "multiple levels" to encourage private entrepreneurs to invest in much wider fields.
Li said it would provide more job opportunities in China to open the low-level airspace to private airplanes at a time when technology and policy are no longer obstacles.
"Like the automobile industry, such opening will also bring about the development of related industries like air traffic control, airports, oil warehouses, maintenance and services," he said.
But enthusiastic millionaires on the Chinese mainland have to first pass necessary training before aviation authorities grant them proficiency licenses.
Aviation officials said at least 40 entrepreneurs and company managers have passed the necessary training for flying in the low-level airspace on the Chinese mainland while about 100,000 people can afford a private airplane.
Sources with the CAAC said currently at least 10 people in Shanghai, Nanjing, Xinjiang and Shaanxi have ordered helicopters from foreign manufacturers, usually at a cost of 5 million to 6 million yuan (602,000 to 723,000 US dollars).
Luo said his decision to buy a helicopter was to "repay the society after getting rich" and he planned to lend his helicopter for local government and police use in flood relief, fire fighting and even hunting the criminal suspects.
Analysts said Chinese millionaires' desire to have their own helicopters was just to make their business travel much easier, or making it the first step to tap the aerial industry if private investors were allowed to found their own airlines in future.
"If you have money, you can buy yourself a plane," said Wang Tao, who had watched Luo's flight in Xianyang. "You can't believe it just years ago." |
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