Visitors check out the cabin of a business jet at the 2015 Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition, which opened at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport yesterday. (Photo/Shanghai Daily)
The Chinese civil aviation regulator has launched a trial operation for low-altitude airspace below 1,000 meters in three cities in China to meet the rising demand for general aviation, a senior official told an airshow in Shanghai yesterday.
Wang Zhiqing, deputy director with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, disclosed yesterday that the low-altitude airspace which is controlled by the military in the country has been opened in Shenyang in Liaoning Province and another two cities in southeast and west China to develop the nation's general aviation industry.
"China so far has 211 business and private jets operated by some 24 companies, or a 19 percent increase on year," Wang told the opening ceremony of the 2015 Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition at the Hongqiao airport. The event will end tomorrow.
One of the overseas participants, Satcom Direct, the US largest business jet satellite communication service provider, said it would provide onboard Wi-Fi and telecommunication services to business jet operators on the Chinese mainland.
"Although the business aviation market on the mainland has seen a slowdown in 2014, it is expected to rebound in 2016," said Adrian Yip, marketing director with Satcom Direct China.
Yip said more mainland business jet owners and customers are requiring Wi-Fi services in the air for video conferences and other business uses.
France's Dassault Falcon yesterday signed an agreement with Deer Air Co, China's biggest business jet operator, to establish a maintenance center in Beijing.
