Reaching the Sky: China looks to boost general aviation

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China's commercial aviation sector is certainly booming, with some of the world's busiest airports and a homegrown airliner well into its development. But it's a country where flying as a HOBBY is still very much in its infancy. That's something that the Faku Flight Conference in Shenyang is hoping to change. CGTN's Xu Xinchen explains.

Gliders, Helicopters, and drones, the Seventh Annual Faku Flight Conference in Northeast China is underway. General aviation companies attending the show hope to increase awareness of the industry, which in China is only just taking off.

ZHANG XIAOCHUN DALIAN EURASIAN HELICOPTER LIMITED "Policies are opening up for low-altitude flights, and the country's civil aviation administration has been encouraging and supporting the development of general aviation."

In 2016, China tripled the airspace allotted for low-altitude flights from 1,000 meters to 3,000 meters above sea level. The market for general aviation in the country is now worth tens of billions of US dollars. Looking forward, the country is aiming to have more than 5,000 general aviation aircrafts in service — more than triple today's number.

XU XINCHEN FAKU COUNTY "This General Aviation Industrial Base in Shenyang's Faku county plans to reach an annual production capacity of 1,000 aircraft a year in the future. However, that also increases the demand for pilots, which China is facing a shortage of."

It is estimated that China needs some 100,000 new pilots to keep up with its booming general aviation industry over the next decade.

LIU GUOYIN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR SHENYANG GENERAL AVIATION INDUSTRIAL BASE "The demand for pilots is huge in China, but training time is short. In addition, the awareness of general aviation is still limited and we don't have big influxes of people learning how to fly."

Liu added, however, some of the tasks could now be achieved with drones.

LIU GUOYIN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR SHENYANG GENERAL AVIATION INDUSTRIAL BASE "Drones are becoming a part of general aviation, and provide a good supplement to the field's more traditional forms."

Unmanned aircraft are now being used more often in agriculture and prospecting. But experts believe that, while they will no doubt help to ease the challenge posed by China's pilot shortage, drones cannot entirely replace human pilots— at least not for the foreseeable future. Xu Xinchen, Faku County, Shenyang, Liaoning Province.