China Civil Aviation Industry, Technology, Infrastructure: News & Discussions

[ahojunk]

Virgin Australia strikes airline deal with China's HNA Aviation
By business reporter Michael Janda
Updated Tue at 11:12am

Virgin Australia has struck a deal with HNA Aviation where the Chinese company will take a 13 per cent stake in the Australian airline.

HNA's main brand is Hainan Airlines, although it operates a range of budget carriers across China and already has investments in some non-Chinese carriers.

The Chinese company is investing $159 million in Virgin Australia, buying its stake at 30 cents per share, a 7.1 per cent premium to the last trading price of 28 cents a share.

The stock will be freshly issued, diluting existing shareholders and boosting Virgin Australia's capital.

Virgin said HNA is committed to raising that stake to 19.99 per cent and it is supportive of the Australian airline's capital structure review.

One of Virgin Australia's current major shareholders, Air New Zealand, has already indicated its intention to sell down, or exit completely, its stake in Virgin.

Virgin Australia's current major shareholders are Air New Zealand (nearly 26 per cent), Etihad (24.2 per cent), Singapore Airlines (22.75 per cent) and Virgin Group (just under 10 per cent).

Virgin to fly directly to China; Beijing, Hong Kong possible routes

The deal is also intended to facilitate direct Virgin Australia flights to China, but the airline's chief executive John Borghetti declined to reveal which cities it is planning to fly to.

"There is a lot of attraction to operating into Beijing, for example, there is also a lot of attraction in operating to Hong Kong, but that's still being worked through," he told reporters in a telephone briefing.

"There are also some secondary cities we're looking at ... wherever the operations are to it will be a significant schedule, it won't be just one or two flights a week."

Mr Borghetti was also coy on how many of the flights would actually be operated by Virgin Australia using its own planes.

"Whether it's all Virgin Australia aircraft or not, let's see how that works out, but it'll be a joint operation and that's what's important."

 

[ahojunk]

I think this is a good acquisition to get up to speed with the plane's interior ...
This will be useful when the C919 comes online.

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Chinese firm acquires Britain-based aircraft cabin interior supplier
Source: Xinhua 2016-06-03 13:35:39

LONDON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese aviation company said late Thursday that it had successfully completed the acquisition of AIM Altitude, a Britain-based aircraft cabin interior supplier.

The acquisition by AVIC International, a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), will facilitate research, development and manufacturing of aircraft cabins and interiors in the Chinese market, the company said.

It will also fill the gap in domestic aircraft payloads for AVIC to improve its aviation manufacturing and operation service capabilities.

With this acquisition, AVIC will directly enter the international payload industry, guide domestic industries in international competition, and improve the R&D, certification, designing and manufacturing of cabin payload products for civil aircraft.

In addition, through the opportunities in Boeing and Airbus' cabin payload partnerships with China, AVIC will be able to better serve aviation manufacturers and airlines both at home and abroad.

Lai Weixuan, president of AVIC International, said his company regards Britain as an important destination for future cooperation and overseas investment.

AVIC International hopes the acquisition will be an opportunity to gradually deepen cooperation with its British counterparts, he added.

"We believe the combination of the two businesses has the potential to grow a major presence in cabin interiors market," said Mark Edwards, CEO of AIM Altitude.

AVIC is an aviation-based enterprise capable of providing customers with whole value chain services from R&D to operations and from manufacturing to finance in a number of sectors.

After the acquisition, AIM Altitude will continue its services for customers in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, China and the Asia-Pacific as a wholly owned subsidiary of AVIC International.

AVIC International will use its worldwide business network to help expand the global market for the existing products and services of AIM Altitude and fully support AIM's future sustainable development.

 

[Daniel808]

This is good news for China. I wonder if the market for this plane is 1,000.

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Deliveries of huge aircraft expected soon
2016-06-03 09:04 | China Daily | Editor: Feng Shuang

View attachment 308694


The domestically developed Y-20 heavy-lifting transport plane will soon be delivered to buyers, a project manager said on Thursday.

The manager expects that China will need at least 1,000 of the huge aircraft.

"I can't tell you the exact time planned for delivery, but ... it will be carried out very soon," Zhu Qian, head of Aviation Industry Corp of China's Large Aircraft Development Office, said at a technology exhibition in Beijing.

"More than 1,000 Y-20s will be needed," he said, adding that the figure was calculated based on the experience of the United States and Russia. Both countries have used heavy-lifting transport aircraft for years.

Zhu said the military and many civilian sectors will benefit greatly from delivery of the Y-20.

The plane's engines will initially be imported, but it is only a matter of time before the Y-20 is equipped with domestically developed engines, he said.

China will also develop transport jets that are even larger than the Y-20 and comparable to the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy from the United States and the Antonov An-225 Mriya, designed in the former Soviet Union.

Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said prototypes of the Y-20 have completed all planned tests, and AVIC will begin mass-production.

"Once the Y-20 joins the military, it will enable the Air Force to move closer to its goal of building a strategic air power," he said.

The Y-20, with a crew of three, made its maiden flight in January 2013, making China the third nation after the US and Russia capable of developing strategic transport aircraft.

The plane has a maximum payload of 66 metric tons and a maximum takeoff weight of more than 200 tons, according to military sources. The high payload means it can carry the PLA's heaviest tank, the 58-ton Type-99A2.

According to a technical evaluation in Aerospace Knowledge, the Y-20 when fully fueled and carrying a payload of 51 tons can fly for 5,200 kilometers. This means it can reach everywhere in Europe and Asia, the US state of Alaska, Australia and North Africa.

With its maximum payload, it has a range of 3,700 km, enabling it to fly nonstop from Harbin in Heilongjiang province to Lhasa in the Tibet autonomous region, the report said.

With this Hot Chubby Girl, China would easily Conduct a Military Operations Far from their Homeland.
To Help their Allies, in case of Disaster Relief or Against an Aggression from Enemy country.

This is What I call, "World Class Military"
Nice thread, brother @ahojunk

 

[ahojunk]

China’s Aviation Regulator Backs Plans for Domestic Airlines’ Expansion Overseas
Manny Salvacion | May 29, 2016 09:55 PM EDT

Workers stand while waiting to unload cargo from an airplane in Beijing airport. (Photo : Reuters)

The country’s aviation regulator is set to increase air rights and provide better allocation of international routes in a bid to push domestic airlines to participate in the global market, according to a Reuters report.

A document released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on its website on Wednesday, May 27, said that despite several difficulties that include lack of safety resources and poor development, China wants to become a "strong civil aviation nation" by 2020.

The report said that the demand for aviation services was driven by the growth in the number of wealthy middle-class citizens in China in recent years, which led to the shortage of airports and qualified pilots.

CAAC plans to set up Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as international airport hubs, as well as subsidize the development of regional aviation networks in border cities such as Urumqi and Kunming.

The regulator said that to speed up the launching of lower altitude airspace for civilians, China will push for reforms in airspace management and enhance cooperation between civil and military air controllers.

To further enable the general aviation sector to develop, CAAC will encourage the establishment of businesses engaged in private jet business or emergency care as well as simplify procedures to approve airport construction.

Details on the amount of investment or timelines were not mentioned in the 18-page-long document.

China's cabinet said last week that it will be opening up further the country's lower altitude airspace for civilian use, which is expected to boost the growth of the country's struggling aviation industry by making it easier for smaller aircraft like private jets and helicopters to fly.

Earlier this month, CAAC said that the government is set to invest 77 billion yuan ($11.9 billion) this year to build aviation infrastructure. The agency said the plan will focus on airports, which will initially lead to 11 key construction projects and improvement and upgrade of existing 52 aviation-related facilities.

 

[ahojunk]

China's aviation sector continues to fly high
2016-05-19 11:22 | CCTV | Editor: Feng Shuang

While the global aviation sector is showing signs of slower growth, the world's second largest economy here in China is experiencing an aviation boom. China is forecast to overtake the United States as the world's largest passenger market by 2029.

Take-off or landing? The global air passenger market soared 7% in the first quarter - that's the strongest start to a year since 2012.

But there are signs that growth may slow. The International Air Transport Association has warned of turbulence and that the stimulus that air traffic has received from low oil prices and fuel costs is starting to fade.

But so far, the trade body expects the decline in airfares to support passenger growth over the coming months.

The IATA is sticking to its 2016 profit outlook for the global airline industry of 36.3 billion US dollars. That's up from around 33 billion US dollars last year.

That's a net profit margin of 5.1%. And around 3.8 billion passengers are expected to travel in 2016 worldwide.

"I am traveling to Changsha today. The travel style of today, the domestic and international tourism are all contributing to this growth," said Li Hongjun, flight passenger.

That's why China's largest privately owned carrier Hainan Airlines is broadening its global reach and adding more international routes.

Despite headwinds, the 200-member association also forecasts that China will overtake the US as the world's largest passenger market by 2029, and that by 2034, China will account for 1.2 billion passengers worldwide.

Easier visa procedures will also boost the growth.

China's aviation boom has also been driving a frenzy in airport construction.

This is the terminal 3 at Beijing Capital Airport – the second-busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic after Atlanta. Soon there will be the new Beijing International Airport Terminal 1 - designed by the late star architect Zaha Hadid.

The new facility will serve 125,000 passengers each day and become the world's largest. It is due for completion in 2019.

 

[ahojunk]

I think most of the new are small airports in the regional areas. This will be a boon to tourism and development in these previously remote rural areas.

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China to Build 500 More Airports by 2020
Vittorio Hernandez | May 18, 2016 11:00 AM EDT

In anticipation of the soaring growth of China’s aviation industry, the government plans to build 500 more airports across the country by 2020.

The construction is expected to create a market valued at more than $153 billion for China’s general aviation industry, reported the Economic Times. The guidelines made by the central cabinet said the new gateways would be in major agricultural and forest regions and in more than half of the five scenic tourist spots in the next four years.

Along with the rise in airports is the number of aircraft to over 5,000 within the same year. It includes private planes and choppers. With the boost in number of aircraft and gateways, total yearly flying time is expected to rise to 2 million hours.

As of December 2015, China has about 300 airports, 281 enterprises and 1,874 aircraft. For the same period, total flying time reached 732,000 hours.

The building of new airports is part of a $723.8 billion spending plan over the next three years to boost China’s infrastructure, including new railways, highways, waterways and urban rail transits. Of the 303 infrastructure projects, 131 would begin this 2016, 92 in 2017 and 80 in 2018.

The rise in number of airports and aircraft should also be accompanied by training of 500,000 civil pilots to meet market demands by 2035, reported GB Times.

 

[ahojunk]

The heavy rain is causing havoc in Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport.

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Ministry to implement precautionary measures at airport ahead of rain
CNA, June 5, 2016, 12:22 am TWN

TAIPEI--Premier Lin Chuan (林全) has directed the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to post senior officials at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in anticipation of heavy rain in the coming days, the Cabinet said in a statement Saturday.

Lin asked the MOTC to speed up the flood cleanup process and resume the airport's operations to normal levels as soon as possible, according to the statement.

With more rain expected over the next few days, the relevant authorities must take proper precautions to reduce its possible impact on airport operations, he said.

The premier issued the directive after the Central Weather Bureau forecast that a weather front will bring rain to Northern Taiwan from late Sunday. The rain is expected to continue until Monday, according to the bureau.

On Thursday, a thunderstorm led to severe flooding and power outages, leaving the airport, mainly Terminal 2, in a state of chaos.

As of Saturday evening, the electricity supply had still not been fully restored at the terminal.

Deputy transportation ministers Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) and Wu Men-feng (吳盟分) visited the airport that day to inspect the progress of the cleanup operation and instructed the airport to complete various flood prevention measures by the end of the day.

Wang said he would stay at the airport Sunday and Monday to supervise the work.

He also said the ministry has prepared 2,000 sandbags and has borrowed four pumps from the Taoyuan City Government for use by the airport.

Also Saturday, Taoyuan International Airport Corp. announced a new round-the-clock phone line (03-273-1999) to handle complaints from passengers affected by the June 2 flooding.

 

[cirr]

Beijing's new airport to become world's largest

Beijing's new airport, planned for the city's Daxing District, will be completed by 2040, reported by the Beijing times on Thursday.

The new airport was designed by Iraq-born British architect Zaha Hadid, who used a streamlined design to provide the new airport with vitality.

"The new airport will experience two phases of construction and will have an annual throughput capacity of 100 million passengers by 2040, becoming the world's largest airport," said Wang Baoling, Deputy Director of Beijing SIA City Holdings Co. Ltd., at the China Design Festival in Beijing.

Wang also said the airport will be officially put into operation in 2019 with 4 runways, capable of handling 45 million passengers annually. Meanwhile, follow-up constructions will continue, and the airport is set to expand its annual capacity to handle 72 million passengers and 2 million tons of freights by 2025. By 2040, another two new runways will be completed, which will promote the airport's capacity to deal with an annual passenger flow of 100 million and freight capacity of 4 million tons.

Currently, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest airport with a total of 95 million passengers in 2014 followed by Beijing with 83.7 million. If passenger capacity at Atlanta airport remains unchanged, Beijing's new airport will become the world's largest by 2040.

The new airport in Beijing is designed to resemble a phoenix, which echoes the dragon shape of Beijing Capital International Airport.

Moreover, the phoenix shape will also bring great convenience to passengers as baggage arrival time will only take 13 minutes, and passengers will need only 8 minutes to walk from the Customs to the boarding gates.

The Guardian has ranked the new structure at the top in a report called "Megastructures: Seven Wonders of the Modern World Near Completion."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_22485358.htm

PS In addition to 6 runways for civilian use, the airport will also have one runway for the military.

 

[cirr]

Construction of new airport takes off in Chengdu

2016-05-30 10:10

Chengdu Tianfu International Airport starts construction on Friday in Lujia township, Jianyang, Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo by Peng Chao/chinadaily.com.cn]

Construction of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, a new airport in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, began on Friday in Lujia township, 50 kilometers southeast of downtown Chengdu.

With total investment of 71.86 billion yuan ($11.7 billion), it is expected to be completed in 2019 and start operating in 2020, according to Pan Gangjun, general manager of Sichuan Province Airport Group Co Ltd.

He said during the first phase three runways will be built, with annual capacity to handle 320,000 flights, 40 million passengers and 700,000 metric tons of cargo by 2025.

The long-term target for the airport is to have six runways, with annual capacity to handle 90 million passengers and 2 million metric tons of cargo, he said.

Wang Dongming, party chief of Sichuan province, said Chengdu is the third city on Chinese mainland to have a second international airport, after Beijing and Shanghai.

“The new airport will provide Sichuan with an express entry to integrate into the world economy, and enables the province to strengthen its strategic status in the country’s economic development and opening up to the world,” he said.

Zhang Xicheng, assistant to the general manager of the Sichuan Province Airport Group Co Ltd, said the new airport would serve international passenger routes and most of the international cargo routes, while the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport would handle domestic flights and some of the international cargo routes.

Liu Yi, deputy chief architect of China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute Co Ltd, designer of the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, said the new airport will be connected to a highly advanced land transportation system, including highways, subways and high-speed rail, which will easily transfer passengers and cargo to destinations around Chengdu and the neighboring cities.

The subway that will connect the new airport with the downtown will travels as fast as 140 km/h, with a one-way trip taking only 30 minutes, he said.

Chengdu has seen sharp increase in air traffic in recent years.

The Shuangliu airport is the fourth busiest airport on Chinese mainland. It handled 42 million passengers in 2015, an increase of 12.1 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released by Civil Aviation Administration of China.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_25527716.htm

 

[ahojunk]

To cater with air traffic increase, more airports are being built.

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China's airport traffic up 10% in 2015
Source: Xinhua | May 30, 2016, Monday |

ONLINE EDITION

Passenger numbers at China's airports hit 915 million in 2015, up 10 percent year on year, the civil aviation authority announced.

Passenger traffic at airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou accounted for 27.3 percent of all airport traffic, according to a report released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), posted on its website on Monday.

There were 26 airports with annual passenger numbers exceeding 10 million, up from 24 in 2014, accounting for 77.9 percent of all airport traffic, said the report.

China had 210 airports at the end of 2015, eight more than the previous year.

Total cargo volume at those airports rose 3.9 percent year on year to 14.09 million tons, it said.

The country has 51 airports with annual cargo throughput exceeding 10,000 tons. Airport cargo traffic at those airports accounted for 98.4 percent of the country's total in 2015, according to the report.

China will channel 77 billion yuan (US$11.7 billion) in 2016 to support the construction of civil aviation infrastructure, particularly airports, CAAC announced on May 4.

 

[ahojunk]

The heavy rain storm is causing flooding and grief to transportation in the Pearl River Delta region.

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Rainstorm creates havoc for Pearl Delta airports
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 05 June, 2016, 2:34am
UPDATED : Sunday, 05 June, 2016, 2:34am
Vivian Lin

More than 100 flights departing from and arriving at Guangzhou and Shenzhen were cancelled and almost all others delayed in Saturday’s storm.

China Southern Airlines alone had cancelled 84 scheduled flights as of 3:30pm, of which 60 originated from Guangzhou and the other from Shenzhen, the news portal Southcn.com reported.

The Hong Kong Observatory issued the thunderstorm warning at 4pm. Several China Eastern Airlines flights bound for Guangzhou Baiyun Airport were delayed for up to six hours.

Almost all scheduled landings at Shenzhen Baoan International Airport were delayed, although airlines by early evening still had not updated scheduling and contingency plans for passengers.

A number of passengers took to Weibo to express their dissatisfaction at the delays, posting angry remarks along with photos of themselves waiting at the airport.

One frustrated blogger on Weibo wrote: “13:50 flight delayed until 14:40, then 16:00, then 17:00, then 18:00 and again until 19:45,” tagging China Southern Airlines’ Weibo account in the complaint.

Another Weibo user posted about his relief at being able to reschedule his cancelled flight for later at night.

Southcn.com reported that China Southern Airlines had assisted passengers with ticket refunds for their cancelled flights.

None of the afflicted airlines including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines carried the news on their own websites.

On Friday, China Southern Airlines also suffered significant schedule setbacks due to the stormy weather in other parts of the country, with 31 flight cancellations and delays of one hour or more, according to the Information Times.

Several other regions in China have also suffered downpours and flooding over the past week, including Jiangxi (江西), Hubei (湖北) and Anhui (安徽), China National Radio reported.

 

[JSCh]

Chengdu Airlines to Operate First ARJ21 Commercial Flight on June 28 - Source
China Aviation Daily | Jun. 06, 2016

China's homegrown regional jet, ARJ21-700, is set to make its first commercial flight from Chengdu to Shanghai Hongqiao on June 28, two month later than planned.

Chengdu Airlines, the launch customer of ARJ21 regional jet, planned to ferry passengers from its home base in Southwest China to commercial hub Shanghai on Feb. 28, but has yet to do so.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Chengdu Airlines will operate the very first ARJ21 revenue flight on June 28.

Flight EU6679 is scheduled to depart from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 9:10 a.m. and land at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airportat 11:50 a.m.; with the return flight EU6680 leaving Shanghai at 1:10 p.m. and reach Chengdu at 4:25 p.m.

As the launch customer of the ARJ21, the Chengdu-based carrier received the first of 30 ARJ21-700 aircraft, Registration B-3321, from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) on November 29, 2015.

Chengdu Airlines plans to fly them on regional routes between Chengdu and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Nanjing in Jiangsu Province as well as other central and western Chinese cities.

The airline, however, has not started selling tickets for the maiden flight. The schedule is still subject to change.

http://www.chinaaviationdaily.com/news/52/52868.html

 

[TaiShang]

The heavy rain is causing havoc in Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport.

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Ministry to implement precautionary measures at airport ahead of rain
CNA, June 5, 2016, 12:22 am TWN

TAIPEI--Premier Lin Chuan (林全) has directed the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to post senior officials at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in anticipation of heavy rain in the coming days, the Cabinet said in a statement Saturday.

Lin asked the MOTC to speed up the flood cleanup process and resume the airport's operations to normal levels as soon as possible, according to the statement.

With more rain expected over the next few days, the relevant authorities must take proper precautions to reduce its possible impact on airport operations, he said.

The premier issued the directive after the Central Weather Bureau forecast that a weather front will bring rain to Northern Taiwan from late Sunday. The rain is expected to continue until Monday, according to the bureau.

On Thursday, a thunderstorm led to severe flooding and power outages, leaving the airport, mainly Terminal 2, in a state of chaos.

As of Saturday evening, the electricity supply had still not been fully restored at the terminal.

Deputy transportation ministers Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) and Wu Men-feng (吳盟分) visited the airport that day to inspect the progress of the cleanup operation and instructed the airport to complete various flood prevention measures by the end of the day.

Wang said he would stay at the airport Sunday and Monday to supervise the work.

He also said the ministry has prepared 2,000 sandbags and has borrowed four pumps from the Taoyuan City Government for use by the airport.

Also Saturday, Taoyuan International Airport Corp. announced a new round-the-clock phone line (03-273-1999) to handle complaints from passengers affected by the June 2 flooding.

Two days ago crazy rain; many flights had to be postponed at Taoyuan. It is all back to normal now.

 

[Tiqiu]

According to this airline document ARJ21 will start commercial flight at Chengdu - Shanghai route on 28 June 3 times a week.

 

[ahojunk]

Call the air ambulance: Medical helicopters tipped for future China boom
SINGAPORE/BEIJING | BY SIVA GOVINDASAMY AND FANG YAN
Markets | Wed Jun 8, 2016 6:41am EDT Related: WORLD, CHINA

As China opens up its low-level airspace to civilian aircraft, the global aviation industry is laying the groundwork for a boom beyond private business jets and pilot training schools - with the purchase of fleets of air ambulance helicopters.

The freeing up of airways previously reserved for military use is a huge opportunity for Norbert Ducrot, head of Airbus Group's helicopters unit in China. Ducrot says there could be enough demand for more than 3,000 emergency medical choppers in China - up from as few as about 20 now in service.

While the United States already has more than 1,500 air ambulance helicopters, China's fleet is minimal because of the civilian airspace curbs. In a country where the World Health Organisation has estimated more than 250,000 annual road traffic deaths, air evacuations from both clogged Chinese city streets and remote rural areas could speed medical care and save lives.

The change proposed by China's State Council is set to ultimately raise the ceiling on airspace for general aviation to 3,000 meters from 1,000 meters. That would radically multiply both the heights and the routes air ambulances could use, a boon for pioneers like Qian Siwei's China Air Medical Service Ltd.

"Emergency air medical services have a great growth potential in China because our target customer is the general public, not just the privileged," Qian, a gynecologist by training, told Reuters. While the going rate for a helicopter evacuation is around 30,000 yuan ($4,565) per hour, companies like Qian's offer discount schemes that can cut costs by as much as 50 percent in some cases.

Based in the province of western Shaanxi, China Air Medical has a fleet of four helicopters and two business jets, operating with the backing of local authorities. Qian claimed his service has proved so popular that three other provinces have invited Chen Air Medical Service to set up similar operations.

China Air Medical is just one of a raft of operators across a broader aviation sector that Beijing is seeking to develop into a thriving home-grown industry. State-owned aircraft maker AVIC, which also supplies helicopters, is another.

But the liberalization is also enticing Western firms like Airbus and U.S. aircraft maker Textron Inc, keen to target what they see as a major growth opportunity.


HELIPADS 'COMPLICATED'

For Airbus executive Ducrot, the arithmetic is simple. He expects to sell 60 helicopters to China this year - for prices he declined to disclose - and for the country to buy up to 300 helicopters annually by 2025 as its economic growth still outpaces developed markets and liberalization kicks in.

"By 2025, China will become the most important helicopter market in the world," said Ducrot.

While some local authorities are enthusiastic, as in Qian's case, and some modern hospitals may be able to accommodate helipads, China's healthcare sector is already creaking and ageing hospital infrastructure may act as a brake on air ambulance growth.

At the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital in the city of Chengdu, southwestern China, engineer Liu Xiaoxi, said that when the facility was under construction in the 1980s, a helipad was considered, but rejected as being "too complicated".

"It's difficult to add things on to the building, especially as tall towers have sprung up on all four sides," said Liu. While some hospitals would be able to add them, he said, "If you want to add a helipad on top of a building then you have to design that in early on in terms of the various beams and supports."

Still Beijing is ploughing ahead with reforms, despite uncertainty on issues like healthcare infrastructure, helipad construction and how Beijing will regulate a low-level civil aviation business.


GROWTH WARNING

China could have 2,000 general aviation airports by 2030 if the country opens the sector up to private investment, says Francis Chao, publisher of monthly publication China Civil Aviation Report and a contractor with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on U.S.-China aviation exchanges.

That compares with a projection by China's State Council of 500 airports by 2020.

But Chao warned growth could be restricted "without further relaxation on flight permits, availability of chartering and fuel supply, more and accessible airfield and flight services".

Apart from emergency medical services, companies like Airbus and Textron unit Bell Helicopters - which declined to comment for this story - are targeting sales in the rapidly growing domestic tourism market, fire-fighting and police services, and by companies that need to patrol pipelines and power lines.

For example, Airbus agreed to set up a final assembly line in China for its H135 helicopters last October, though it has yet to announce a location for the new facility. It's also investing in support services like sales offices, maintenance hubs and a training center for pilots - the latter being in short supply across the country.


(Reporting by Siva Govindasamy in SINGAPORE and Fang Yan in BEIJING; Additional reporting by SHANGHAI newsroom; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)