On July 22, the first private aircraft shop was opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, with mainly planes and helicopters in its major stock. Currently, there are more than 10 private planes in Zhejiang Province, while the national figure is no more than 100.

Li Shurong, a financial analyst said, ‘There is a huge demand for private aircraft in China. Thus a great many capable pilots and technicians and related regulations will be needed to guarantee the healthy development of the industry.

‘It is normal to witness the booming of private aircraft, as nowadays a helicopter is no more expensive than a BMW. However, we don’t have related laws and regulations, thus many enterprises are still biding their time.’

Currently, many enterprises are already using private aircraft. It requires about two weeks to apply for the opening of a private airline which is one way around the regulations.

According to the latest data, there are 200 Chinese with private aircraft driving licenses, including owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, ordinary workers and college students. This will change as China’s ability to manufacture aircraft increases and more air space is freed. At the moment much of it, the majority, is under the direct control of the PLA and until that changes to a significant degree general aviation will be difficult. But eventually it will happen. China is a country designed for general aviation.
Source: China News.cn

The first Airbus A319 wing box made in China has been delivered to Airbus by Xi’an Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC I).

With a dimension of 16.67 meters by 4.2 meters by 1.0 meters and a weight of 3,500 kg per wing, the wing box is the largest Airbus aircraft component ever produced by a Chinese aviation manufacturer.

The XAC is scheduled to produce four wing boxes a month as of 2009. With the continuing strong demand for the A320 family aircraft, the XAC represents additional capacity to Airbus’ wing production in Broughton, England.

Airbus has a long cooperation history with the Chinese aviation industry, with wing ribs having been manufactured by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) since the 1980’s.

In addition, the Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Center was inaugurated in July 2005 and now has more than 100 engineers.

Airbus has suggested that up to 5% of the A350XWB airframe work be outsourced to the Chinese Aviation Industry.

On June 28, 2007, the joint venture contract for the Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Tianjin was signed between the Chinese Consortium and Airbus.
Source: Beijing Review

China Eastern Airlines has signed a deal to buy ten A320 passenger jets from Airbus to meet domestic demand for short-and medium-distance passenger transport.

Price in theory is RMB4.64 billion ($618 million) but in the real world substantially less.

The purchase will paid in US dollars mainly with loans from commercial banks, and analysts said it would have no effect on the carrier’s daily cash flow and its short-term operations.

The aircraft will be delivered between March 2011 and May 2012, according to the announcement.

Air China and China Southern Airlines announced earlier this month that they had agreed to buy 23 and 45 passenger jets respectively to improve operating capacities.

Under the fierce competition from other domestic and foreign airlines, the China Eastern’s market share in Shanghai, its major market, has dropped below 40%.

Li Fenghua, chairman of the airline, is optimistic about the company’s future performance, and said it is working hard to fulfill the goal of more than RMB200 million profit this year.

The company is in talks with Singapore Airlines, which is looking to become a strategic investor. Our illustration is of the correct aircraft, an A320, but in the colors of another airline, Iberia.
Source: China Daily

China TravelSky Technology’s parent company will seek to list in its entirety in Hong Kong to further expand the nation’s largest electronic system for booking airline tickets.

Zhu Xiaoxing, executive director and president of TravelSky Technology, said at an EMBA graduation forum at Tsinghua University, ‘Our parent company will inject key assets into TravelSky to bolster our further expansion.’

The parent company is State-owned China TravelSky Holding which has a registered capital of RMB1.5 billion. Founded in 2002, it now has four subsidiaries, including Hong Kong-listed TravelSky Technology and the Accounting Center of China Aviation.

Zhu Xiaoxing declined to reveal details on the timetable and assets involved, citing regulatory requirements.

TravelSky Technology now has more than 98% of China’s electronic airline booking market. Its system processed about 173 million bookings for domestic and overseas airlines last year, while its revenue grew 14% to RMB1.71 billion.

The company is 42.7% held by 14 Chinese airlines, including the holding companies of the three largest mainland commercial carriers — China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China National Aviation.

The Beijing-based company is now operating a website for booking airline tickets online, which some analysts say could become a strong competitor to Chinese online travel agents like as Ctrip.com.

Travelsky Technology has more than 30 centers across the mainland as well in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.

There were 179 million airline passengers in China last year, up 15% from 2005. The number is expected to reach 270 million in 2010.
Source: China.org.cn

Air Transport World reports that China’s civil aviation authority has conceded that the country’s commercial air transport industry is developing ‘a bit too fast.’

China’s aviation authority reported the collective profit of Chinese air carriers topped RMB900 million ($118 million) in the first four months of 2007, reversing a loss of four times that amount a year earlier.

The group acknowledged the industry was developing too fast, pointing out carriers had added 45 aircraft in the first four months of the year and they are expected to take delivery of a total of 150 aircraft in 2007 and another 140 new aircraft in 2008, 160 in 2009, and 140 in 2010.

Meanwhile, US carriers Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and US Airways launched formal bids to operate new services to China. The new services will become available under an expanded aviation agreement between the US and China.

Continental wants to fly daily service between Newark and Shanghai (originating in Cleveland). Delta has applied to serve Shanghai from Atlanta and daily to Beijing. Northwest wants to serve both Beijing and Shanghai from Detroit. And US Airways, which previously applied to operate a Philadelphia-Shanghai route, has expanded its application to include daily Beijing service from Philadelphia (originating in Charlotte).

That means that there will be an immense number of seats to be filled. And China’s airlines are not as experienced nor as expert as American airlines in doing this.
Source: Logistics Today