Chinanews, Beijing, Apr. 24 – The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is running a test for a technology called ADS-B. Once approved, the technology will be used to control low-altitude flying activities, the Beijing Business Today reported.
“At present, many companies and individuals in economically prosperous regions have expressed a strong desire for low-altitude flying,” said Yu Zhenfa, CAAC chief pilot.
In managing low-altitude flying activities, CAAC will adopt common practices in international aviation industry by initiating controlling, reporting, or monitoring methods to different planes flying for different levels of low altitudes, Yu said.
In doing so, Yu said CAAC will let AOPA-CHINA (Aircraft Owner and Pilot Association – China) play a bigger role. At present, different countries apply different standards for “low-altitude flying.” Mostly, low-altitude flying is defined as flying activities occurring between 1,000 and 4,000 meters. In the United States, which has the most advanced aviation industry in the world, low altitude is defined as airspace below 3,000 meters. At present, 200,000 of the 350,000 private planes in the world now fly under this range. They generate 50 billion US dollars of total economic volume every year. Currently, there are only 70 private planes in China. In the world, the ratio of aviation planes to private planes generally stands at 1:9, whereas in China, such ratio is 20:1, Yu said.
Now, more and more Chinese people are buying their own planes. Zhang Yue, general manager of the Broad Air Conditioning Group, once owned 5 private planes.
“Private planes are usually sold at 1-10 million yuan, mostly around 3-4 million yuan. In China, some domestic-made planes can be sold at 300,000-400,000 yuan,” an insider from a renowned international business aircraft manufacturer told this reporter.
Statistics show that in China, there are at least 300,000 people whose total assets are over 10 million yuan.
“They are our potential customers,” the insider said.
