General aviation 'set for takeoff'(2)

More than 500 aviation enterprises and supporting companies have been established at the base.

Private capital is surging into the industry, with 178 general aviation enterprises around the country as of June, 32 more than at the end of 2012.

But some general aviation aircraft manufacturers said that their business isn't yet improving.

"Our sales have even gone down recently, since new operators only need one or two planes for appearances," said the marketing director of a helicopter builder, who declined to be identified.

It's quite possible that some companies are only trying to gain something from various governments' preferential policies for the general aviation industry, he said. Some companies are even just trying to get land in the industrial parks, he added.

"We'll need to wait for a long time before the industry really booms," he said, adding that he remains optimistic about the outlook for the sector.

As of June 30, there were 1,610 registered general aviation aircraft in China. The total flight time of general aviation will be more than 600,000 hours in 2013, 80,000 hours more than last year, according to the CAAC.

Compared with some 230,000 general aviation aircraft in the United States, there's huge market potential in China, said Gao.

The State Council, China cabinet, issued a document on promoting the development of civil aviation industry in July 2012, which said that emerging general aviation services such as private and business flights should be greatly developed.

"The total number of general aviation aircraft is expected to be more than 10,000 within five to 10 years," Gao said.

Some experts suggested that more general aviation airports should be built, while controlling the number of industrial parks.

China only has some 100 general aviation airports at present, and 70 of these are registered with the CAAC, said Wang Xia, deputy dean of the general aviation college of the Civil Aviation University of China.

These airports can't meet the huge market demand, Wang said. The small number of general aviation airports is a major constraint on the industry, she said.

"China now has no national standard for the construction and management of general aviation airports, and it urgently needs to develop uniform standards for the industry's management," Wang added.

He Liang, the director of the industrial base in Shaanxi, said that his base will work jointly with other government departments to build five or six general aviation airports in the province. The base also aims to establish a low-altitude network with more than 10 airports for general aviation in the province in the coming decade.

"We plan to open a general aviation air route from Neifu airport in Pucheng county in eastern Shaanxi to Hengshan airport in northern Shaanxi in 2015, which could be a commuter route or tourism route," He said.