The first business-aviation service base in the Chinese mainland began operations yesterday at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport, a bet on a big future for small planes.
A business jet is seen at the Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai yesterday as a business-aviation service base began operation for private and corporate planes. The center, the first of its kind in China's mainland, has a terminal, a 4,500-square-meter hangar and three gate positions for commercial aircraft, capable of handling 6,000 planes a year. [Shanghai Daily]The center will provide ground, repair and maintenance services for business aircraft -- mostly small jets for private or corporate use.
"Demand for the service is rising in Shanghai as well as in the country," said Wang Guangdi, board chairman of Shanghai Hawker Pacific, a joint venture set up by the Shanghai Airport Authority and Australia-based Hawker Pacifica to run the center. Wang is also a vice president of the Shanghai Airport Authority.
But how much profit the center can bring to the airport in short term is "hard to say," Wang said.
"The business aviation industry is still in its infancy in the country," said Alan Smith, vice president of the joint venture. But the potential for the business aviation sector is great, he said, given the nation's strong economic growth.
China's mainland has nearly 50 business aircraft, three times that of five years ago.
The center has a terminal, a 4,500-square-meter hangar and three gate positions for commercial aircraft, enough for 6,000 planes a year.
At present, about 2,000 business aircraft take off or land each year at the city's two airports. The number is expected to increase 10 to 15 percent in the near future, according to the Shanghai Airport Authority.
The business aviation center, near the airport's old terminal, will go from trial basis to full operation before the World Expo opens on May 1, when 16.8 million visitors are expected to arrive by air.
Construction began in 2008 and the project passed state civil aviation inspection on March 17. The center went operational just a week after the March 16 opening of the airport's Terminal 2.
