At ABACE, Boeing unveiled the latest Boeing Business Jet to enter service, a 737- 700 with -800 wings and luxury interiors
A TOTAL OF 156 EXHIBITORS FILLED THE 4,000-SQ M HANGAR, AND 27 AIRCRAFT WERE ON STATIC DISPLAY
Small Is All Right
Last year, participants hummed that China was a market for large aircraft. The bigger, the better. ABACE 2012 showed a growing interest in smaller aircraft, which are useful for travelling within the country.
Eurocopter marked this interest and displayed its AS350 B3 Ecureuil and a mock-up of its light twin-engine EC135, which can come with VIP interiors, of course. It predicts that 10 per cent of all helicopter orders in China in the next decade could be for business and private use. Hawker Beechcraft sold 10 King Air turboprops to Chinese aviation company Avion Pacific Limited. The manufacturer hailed the sale as proof of a developing light turbine market in the country. Earlier this year, Piaggio Aero sold the first two P.180 Avanti II turboprops in China to CAEA (Beijing) Aviation Investment Co, Ltd.
Joint Ventures
To establish China arms, foreign firms need a local partner. Numerous joint ventures were announced: Warren Buffet’s NetJets and two local investment firms formed NetJets China Business Aviation Ltd; Gulfstream, Deer Jet and Grand China Aviation Technik plan to open and operate a joint service centre, Gulfstream Beijing; Swiss company Vista Jet signed an MoU with Beijing Airlines (Air China’s private jet subsidiary) to establish a Beijing base.
Made in China
While orders come in bulk, deliveries take place one aircraft at a time. Some manufacturers hope to shorten Chinese buyers’ waiting time by building the planes locally through factories dedicated to producing jets for Chinese clients. This will be done through a JV. To this end, Cessna has signed a cooperation agreement with state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China and the Chengdu government. The deal opens the door for negotiations to establish a JV to produce mid-size Cessna business jet models, as well as a potential new product
for the business jet market. Other manufacturers who had vied for the partnership included Bombardier, Dassault Falcon, Embraer and Hawker Beechcraft Corp.
New Options
With increasing acceptance of the private jet in China not only as a status symbol and pleasure craft but also as a business need, more charter operators are setting up shop in the country. New ones include Chinese start-up AllPoints Jet, which will offer Gulfstream G450 and G550 aircraft once these are delivered by Q1 2013, as scheduled.
Sales and Deliveries
Embraer delivered the first of 13 Legacy 650 aircraft to Minsheng Financial Leasing Co, Ltd, the bulk of which was ordered at NBAA 2011. Gulfstream delivered a G200 to Asia Jet and a G450 to Nanshan Jet. One of the largest orders signed at ABACE was for five ultra-long-range Bombardier Global 6000 jets — though the buyer was not Chinese, but AVWest of Perth, Australia.
Issues
Shanghainese authorities were present at the show, as was Civil Aviation Administration of China deputy administrator Xia Xinghua, who said: “The Chinese government is drafting specific rules to regulate business aviation. Various improvement measures and industry layouts are also under way.”
In the next few years, the industry hopes to see a relaxation of restrictions on the use of China’s low-altitude airspace for general aviation. China also needs more trained pilots, sufficient infrastructure, a more efficient process for visa and entry, and a lower composite tax rate for imported jets.
The success of ABACE signifies global and Asian firms’ long-term interest in China, and their willingness to work with the government. We all wait and see, and hope the feeling is truly mutual.
JETGALA 129
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148