A simple statement which is amazing but true. AVIC I, China’s main state-owned aviation firm, plans to buy all or part of six Airbus factories in Europe, including the historic Filton plant in Bristol, England where the first Concorde flew in 1969.

A spokesman for AVIC I said, ‘Our intention is to buy into all or some of these facilities but we have not reached a final agreement.’

Martin Craigs, president of the Aerospace Forum Asia, said, ‘The Chinese are ready and willing and just waiting for the Europeans to say when and what they are allowed to buy. But there will be some agitated hearts and glistening eyes if people think the crown jewels of British aerospace history are being sold to the Chinese.’

Under an aggressive restructuring plan, known as ‘power 8′, Airbus intends to cut 10,000 jobs and sell all or part of six of its 16 facilities, including two factories in France and three in Germany.

AVIC I’s general manager Lin Zuoming said that if his company were successful in buying the plants it would make a commitment to keep them open and make them into competitive and economical suppliers for Airbus.

It is unclear whether European laws would allow a Chinese state-owned company to purchase such sensitive assets but Airbus has itself already established an assembly plant in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin, which is scheduled to go into operation next year.

AVIC I is leading a program to produce the first Chinese-made 70-110 seat regional jet by early next year.
Source: Financial Times

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) and France-based Thales Group have agreed on the purchase of an Airbus A320 simulator which will be based in Beijing.

The first flight simulator will be used to facilitate training for its own supervisors. They will decide whether a domestically-made simulator meets the requirements for A320 flight simulation.

The simulator has two components: an A320 1.5.0-standard D grade full-operational flight simulator and an A320 flight maintenance exerciser.

The flight maintenance exerciser is a low-level training device, which can simulate the piloting environment in a classroom. With the assistance of the aviation electronic supply software and reality piloting model, it creates an authentic effect that is very similar to the full simulator.

The A320 full simulator and exerciser will be installed at the Sino-Europe Training and Support Center. The center will operate and maintain the A320 simulator set for CAAC.
Source: TDC Trade

The current Paris air show suggests a slowdown looms for some of the aviation industry. Weak recent airline traffic figures — taken worldwide, not China — and rising calls for stricter environmental controls pose threats to an airliner sector coming off its strongest two years in history.

The worry is that there is an increasingly international set of aerospace players vie for attention at Paris, with China coming up in less than a year with first flights for new regional jets that are seen as major advances for their industries — China’s ARJ21.

Eventually, eventually, the focus of the aviation industry will move somewhat from the United States to other countries, notably China.

The country has already shown its capability for building jet aircraft and substantial parts of very large jet aircraft. As a sizable proportion of future sales will be to Chinese airlines it is understandable that China will move more and more into building the aircraft. This will not be seen as cheering news in Europe and the United States.
Source: Airwise

Air Canada will double its daily Beijing-Vancouver service and increase its Shanghai-Toronto non-stop flights in next month.

Daniel Shurz, vice president of Network Planning of Air Canada, said, ‘These added flights represent an increased capacity of nearly 50% for the growing Chinese market.’

The new Beijing-Vancouver daily flight will operate between July 2 and October 1, using a Boeing 767-300.
Source: Shanghai Daily

The figures are slightly frightening. According to the latest report from China Academy of Personnel Science, which should be able to make a fair stab at the figures, China will need at least 240,000 civil aviation personnel over the next 20 years.

The civil aviation industry in China is developing at a pace two times faster than the world average. Think about that for a moment and then understand why China faces greater shortages of pilots, crew members and maintenance experts.

Yu Renlu, an official with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), said, ‘China’s civil aviation industry will need 10,000 pilots by 2010.’
Currently, 90% of China’s pilots are from the Sichuan-based Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC), which recruits about 1,000 students a year.

Chinese airlines spend a RMB1 million ($123,000 U.S. dollars) training pilots who study for four years at CAFUC before graduating with a pilot license and a bachelor’s degree.

Understandably, pilots are often required to sign long-term contracts with the Chinese airlines that have paid for their training. In recent years, an increasing numbers of lawsuits have been reported between domestic airlines and pilots who want to quit their jobs to work for foreign or privately-owned airlines that offer higher salaries.

Yu Renlu said that to meet the demand for new pilots, CAFUC should enroll more students and find alternative ways to pay for their training. He said in the future, pilots should pay for their own training, allowing them to choose which airline they want to work for after graduation. He did not say where the trainee pilots would find the necessary RMB1 million to pay for it.
Source: China Daily