China GA Report EN

OPERATOR OVERVIEW
As of June 30, 2017, there were 345 CAAC-approved GA
companies. Between 2014 and 2015, the number of GA
companies showed a 17.6% growth, with an increase
from 239 to 281. In 2016, the growth decreased to 13.9%, with still
320 GA firms. There are around 380 companies and organizations
operating GA aircraft.
Civil Aviation Industry Development Statistics in 2016 showed
that China had a total GA flight mission of 764,700 hours, a 1.8%
decrease from 2015. 2015 saw a 15.4% increase, with a total of
779,000 hours. In 2016, a slower growth rate in GA corporations
accompanied the negative increase in the total GA mission hours,
however, the numbers for the first half of 2017 seem to be better
than that of 2016 already.
The 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) fostered and developed
several backbone GA companies, which acted as a driving force
to the GA industry. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) intends
to follow suit. In 2016, a total of RMB 277M (US$41.55M) was
invested into GA enterprises by civil aviation. In 2017, the budget
for special projects is RMB 326M (US$48.9M), a 17.7% increase
from last year.
The five operators that received the largest subsidies in 2016
were: Beidahuang GA (RMB 32.06M; US$4.81M), CITIC Offshore
Helicopter Company (COHC) (RMB 27.84M; US$4.18M), China
Flying Dragon GA (RMB 20.78M; US$3.1M), Xinjiang GA (RMB
15.49M; US$2.3M) and Shandong GA (RMB 12.80M; US$1.8M).
COHC, and its subsidiary, together received the largest subsidy
amount among all GA operators, with RMB 38.14M (US$5.72M).
Under the Provision on Capital Management of Special Project
for General Aviation (Temporary), released by the CAAC financial
department, there are four types of operations eligible for
subsidization: (1) agriculture, farming and farming slight (sowing,
spray, fertilization, deratization, forestry, artificial weather, etc);
(2) industrial flight (fuel, power mission, aero-photography,
climate investigation, marine monitoring, etc); (3) community
service flight (medical and rescue, scientific experiment, geology
exploration, urban fire control, etc); and (4) mission flights that
carry out national emergency rescue.
High operating costs, uneven mission distribution, insufficient
economic capacity, underdeveloped GA facilities and low-altitude
airspace restrictions are the prevailing problems encountered by
most of the GA enterprises, at a time when the industry is still in its
start-up phase. Meanwhile, government subsidization toward GA
missions can greatly reduce the operating costs of the industry.
GA companies seldom have annual profit of over RMB 10M
(US$1.5M) and some are still struggling with achieving a balance
of payments, as the country gives priority to the development
of air ambulance and rescue services. Provincial government
and corporations already have plans underway for the industry’s
development, for instance, the introduction of fixed and rotarywing
air ambulance, improvements in highway services, tourist
area landing spots and hospital rooftop helipads. Rescue
practice is also performed with hospital and police authorities.
Public-oriented sightseeing tours, commuting services, and noncommercial
enterprise and private flying are fields that require
extra effort from the industry in the coming future, for further
development of the market.
Number of GA Operators in China 2007-2016
Number of GA Operators
% Change
350 35%
320
300
281
30%
250
239
25%
200
189
20%
146
150
123
15%
111
89
103
100 68
10%
50
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
5%
0%
Data Source: GAMA and 2016 Civil Aviation Industry Development Statistics Bulletin
44 | CHINA GA REPORT 2017