China's aviation industry is one of curiosity. In recent years, they have made strides to become more open, and it would appear they are gearing up to open their low altitude airspace completely to more private based aviation, according to this report. This is a far cry from it's current status, which is pretty much restricted airspace over most of China.
China's airspace is currently controlled by the Central Military Commission, which manages Chinese airspace under a military doctrine. The result is very few, if any, locations for general aviation, and general aviation flights are a rarity as it is. With any luck, by opening their airspace to more private based aviation, general aviation will begin to become commonplace as it is here in the U.S.
Currently, domestic operations are primarily conducted by state operated air carrier Commercial Aircraft Corporate of China, or Comac, with the some other operations intermixed by companies like Parc Aviation, Contractair, and Sigma Aviation Services. Internationally, flights are conducted by familiar companies such as Delta, British Airways, American Airways and such. Eventually, China may open up their domestic commercial industry to the private sector, and that's certainly a promising idea with the opening of their airspace in 2015.
On the upside, the need for pilots in China continues to rise. A quick Google search brings up this website and lists a number of jobs based in China. If China is a place that a pilot would want to work, the industry is getting ready to expand drastically over there, and the prospects look very good.
I am very confused by your discussion of how domestic operations in China are conducted - you say that they are operated by Comac, but Comac is actually a state-owned manufacturer. Also, you reference other "operators" such as Parc Aviation and Sigma Aviation Services, but these are actually job management sites. This somewhat indicates a lack of research and understanding of the topic.
ReplyDeleteI don't typically reply to my own posts, but after reading it, I'm kinda confused myself, and I wrote it! I began comparing my notes to my writing, and I'm not sure what I was thinking writing this, because my notes are completely different than what I was writing. YUCK. Ok, I'll do a lot better next week. Note to self: don't have the tele on in the background while trying to blog. It comes out as nonsense!
ReplyDeleteIt must be hard for GA in China to get going, with limited airports and military in charge. However their commercial airlines may be projected to beat us in the next 20 years, with the help of their government.
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