Low-altitude airspace for private planes now open
- Source: Global Times
- [01:17 October 20 2009]
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By Guo Qiang
A pilot scheme that allows China's first-general aviation industrial park in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province to open low-altitude airspace for private flights went into operation Saturday.
The scheme in the Pucheng Industrial Park, inaugurated by China National Aviation Holding General Manager Li Jiaxiang on Saturday, will allow a growing number of general aviation aircrafts to fly below 2,000 meters, within a 20 kilometers radius in the park.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country's aviation regulator, gave the green light to the park to open low-altitude airspace in August.
As a result, low-altitude planes can fly without permission from the air traffic control departments of the CAAC and the Air Force.
Low-altitude airspace usually is under 3,000 meters while general aviation refers to flights other than military and scheduled airline flights.
China kicked off pilot programs in Heilongjiang and Fujian provinces in response to long-standing calls to expand low-altitude airspace. The programmes have failed since they are not key areas for developing the country's general aviation industry.
The Pucheng Industrial Park is part of the Xi'an-based Yanliang National Aviation Hi-tech Industrial Base, which is the earliest and most influential air-tech business community in China. As for now, 185 companies have started businesses in the base, with private and foreign-funded companies amounting to 90 percent.
Dai Xu, an air force strategist, told the Global Times that the opening of the low-altitude area would stimulate growth. He called on the government to establish a sound system to pave a path for the growth of general aviation and lift restrictions on its development.
The current aviation measures are both harsh and unhelpful to social development, Yang Yu, director of the emergency management office of the Yanliang National Aviation Hi-tech Industrial Base, told the Time Weekly magazine in May.
The opening of the low-altitude airspace is likely to strengthen the development of private airplanes, part of the general aviation.
Decades of continuous economic boom in China has given birth to a legion of wealthy people who own airplanes. According to estimates, the number of private planes in China is expected to rise from 11 in 2006 to nearly 2,000 in 2020.
But, the move failed to win applause from some insiders.
"Restriction on low-altitude airspace is not the only tie to the development of general aviation in China. A private airplane faces lengthy procedures before it could take to the sky,"said Yang Xiaonong, general manager of Changsha Tong Lian Aerospace Technology Co.
Zhang Han and Liang Chen contributed to this story
