Private Helicopters - Out of Reach?

The first China Helicopter Expo has just concluded. The event, which ran over the weekend in the northern port city of Tianjin, demonstrated that many Chinese citizens have an interest in private aircraft, however according to foreign and Chinese exhibitors, certain problems have hindered China's private aircraft business.

Zhang Wan 1 takes a closer look.

 

Li Jingsheng, a helicopter expert from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, says training a qualified 2 pilot usually takes three to four years.

 

While it's not easy to be trained as a qualified pilot, it's also hard to buy a private aircraft in China these days. During the recently concluded China Helicopter Expo 2011, the cheapest private helicopter was tagged with a price of three million yuan. The exhibitor explains:

"We would identify this type of private aircraft as an air taxi, suitable for an ordinary family. After paying for three to five million yuan, a family would be able to use helicopter."

Apart from the high price of private helicopters, the annual maintenance fee is about 10 to 20 percent of the purchase price of the helicopter. In addition to this, you also need to pay several hundred thousand yuan to learn how to pilot it.

Last but not least, private pilots have difficulty getting permission to fly in in China due to strict regulations regarding low-altitude airspace. Here is Li Jingsheng again.

"Applying for permission to fly takes about ten days or a week at least, it really takes some time."

But some insiders say the country is currently amending 3 its airspace regulations and is expected to ease control on low-altitude airspace nationwide by 2015.

Although it's still hard for most ordinary people in China to own their private aircraft, many people say they are very interested in private helicopters.

one visitor at the helicopter exposition says he wishes to pilot private aircraft as he believes piloting an aircraft would allow him more freedom compared to driving a car on the road, meaning he would be able to get away from traffic jams.

China, the world's second-largest economy, reportedly ranks 4th internationall in terms of the number of dollar millionaires. And according to the Global Fortune Report 2011, rich Chinese have a particular interest in private aircraft.

Some insiders say China needs to build more helipads and airports for private aircraft to take off and land. The helipads and airports should also be able to provide proper maintenance for the aircraft. And the shortage of pilots is a hurdle 4 that Chinese private aircraft businesses must clear.

According to one expert, more than 600,000 people own flying licenses 5 in the United States, compared with 20,000 in China.

For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.