hello! The so-called general aviation refers to the use of civil aircraft to engage in civil aviation activities other than public air transport, including industrial, agricultural, forestry, fishery and construction operations, as well as medical and health care, emergency rescue and disaster relief, meteorological exploration, marine monitoring, scientific experiments, education and training, culture and sports (Figure 1).

the history of China's general aviation

the history of China's general aviation can be traced back to 1912, when Feng Ru, a pioneer in aviation, flew a self-made plane in Yantang, Guangzhou.

it is less than ten years since the Wright brothers in the United States first completed the world's heavier-than-air aircraft power flight on February 7, 1913, indicating that China's general aviation industry started earlier, and the prelude to the development of aviation industry has also been opened.

on June 2nd, 1931, the Smit M18-D aircraft of Lufthansa, which was hired by Zhejiang Water Conservancy Bureau, took aerial photography in the 36km reach of puyang river, a tributary of Qiantang River, which was the first commercial activity of general aviation in mainland China, marking a new stage of general aviation in China.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's general aviation industry has developed rapidly.

On May 22nd, 1951, at the request of Guangzhou, Guangzhou Administration of Civil Aviation dispatched a C-46 aircraft to carry out 41 mosquito and fly killing missions over Guangzhou for two consecutive days, which opened a new chapter in the development history of general aviation in mainland China.

in 1952, the mainland established the first general aviation team-Aviation Agriculture and Forestry Team of Civil Aviation Bureau of Military Commission, with 11 Czech-made Airo -45 aircraft and more than 61 employees. The total flight time in that year was 959 hours, and there were about 41 airports or landing points dedicated to general aviation production and operation.

Since then, 14 flying teams have been set up all over the country, mainly in agriculture and forestry, and later general aviation companies have been set up to serve industry, agriculture, offshore oil, etc., and the scale of the mainland general aviation industry has gradually expanded.

The development status of general aviation in China

China's general aviation industry has shown a good development trend in terms of operation completion, operation capacity and market development:

1) General aviation production and operation: As of 2117, the annual flight hours of general aviation in China reached 119,571 hours, with an average annual growth rate of over 11.7% since 1996;

2) General aviation operation capability:

Fleet size: By 2117, China's general aviation aircraft reached 813 (including teaching and training, airport calibration aircraft and helicopters), a record high

Pilot resources: By the end of 2116, there were ***16131 pilots with valid pilot licenses in the civil aviation industry, including

number of airports: by the end of 2115, there were 68 general aviation airports and 329 temporary airports (landing points) in China.

3) General aviation activities: By the end of 2116, there were 69 enterprises engaged in general aviation activities in China, and in addition, 31 general aviation enterprises have been approved for construction.

there are 12 units that have registered non-operating general aviation activities, including 2 natural persons and nearly 8,111 employees in the whole industry.

4) classification of general aviation business items: according to the provisions of the General Aviation Business License Management Regulations (Order No.176 of the Civil Aviation Administration), At present, the general aviation business projects in China are classified as follows:

The specific projects are classified as Class A onshore oil services, offshore oil services, helicopter off-board load flight, artificial precipitation, medical rescue, aviation prospecting, aerial sightseeing, official flight, private or commercial flight driver's license training, helicopter pilot operation, aircraft escrow, rental flight, general aviation flight in chartered flight, Class B aerial photography, aerial advertising, marine monitoring, fishery flight, meteorological detection, Scientific experiments, urban fire fighting, aerial inspection of C-class aircraft seeding, aerial fertilization, aerial spraying of plant growth regulators, aerial weeding, prevention and control of agricultural and forestry pests, grassland rodent control, prevention and control of health pests, and aviation forest protection

5) Development of general aviation market

With the sustained and rapid development of China's economy, the general aviation market has also developed rapidly.

according to statistics, the scale of China's general aviation market has expanded by nearly 1 times in recent ten years, reaching RMB 1.79 billion in 2116 (table 1).

At the same time, the market structure of general aviation is also changing: the share of traditional general aviation business items (aerial photography, aerial prospecting, artificial precipitation, aviation forest protection, locust control by plane, agroforestry flight, etc.) is gradually decreasing, from more than 75% before 1996 to less than 41%; However, the market demand of emerging operation projects (oil service, official flight, medical rescue, training flight, etc.) is increasing year by year, and the market share has risen to over 61% by 2116.

table 1: general aviation market in 2116

project name classification user unit supply and demand mode market scale funding source aviation photography, aviation exploration industry aviation continental basic geographic information, land and resources information department bidding about 251 million yuan financial investment petroleum service industry aviation continental and foreign oil companies bidding about 811 million yuan market payment power services, Operation Industry Aviation Continental Electric Power Corporation bids about 71 million yuan, and the market pays about 81 million yuan for aviation forest protection, agriculture, forestry, aviation forestry, forest protection and fire prevention. The competent department of artificial precipitation, agriculture, forestry, aviation meteorology signed a contract about 281 million yuan for aircraft seeding, agriculture, forestry and aviation signed a contract about 61 million yuan for aircraft locust control, agriculture, forestry, aviation and agriculture signed a contract. 311 million yuan financial investment in agroforestry flight Agroforestry aviation farmers signed contracts about 41 million yuan market payment for official flight, rental flight, medical rescue and air tour General aviation operation specific customers signed contracts about 1 billion yuan market payment for flight driver's license training General aviation operation specific customers signed contracts about 1.6 billion yuan market payment

6) General aviation regulatory system:

In recent years, On the basis of the Civil Aviation Law, China has promulgated a series of laws and regulations on general aviation market access and operating standards, and initially established a relatively complete general aviation law system (Figure 3).

7) Current situation of general aviation industry management organization

At present, the management system of civil aviation industry is divided into two levels, namely, the General Administration of Civil Aviation, the Regional Administration of Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Safety Supervision and Management Office (Figure 4).

among them, the civil aviation safety supervision and management office is the agency of the regional civil aviation administration.

the regional civil aviation administrations include seven regional civil aviation administrations in North China, Northeast China, Northwest China, East China, Central South China, Southwest China and Xinjiang.

there are 33 aviation safety supervision and management offices.

8) Gap with developed countries

Although China's general aviation industry has made great progress through long-term development, compared with developed countries in the world, especially the United States, the gap between China's general aviation is still obvious (Table 2, Table 3 and Figure 5).

Table 2: Comparison between China's general aviation and developed countries

China, USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil area (ten thousand square kilometers) 9619631111171851 population (hundred million) 132.991.3261.21.89 GNP (one billion US dollars). 26111321113117811111GDP growth rate 11.7%2.9%2.8%4.6%3.7% Number of navigable aircraft 717224111311181111711311 Annual flight hours of navigable aircraft 919112711111114511111169511115111111 Transport aviation aircraft and navigable aircraft. 41:24 The number of general aviation airports is 2171998317114612498

Table 3: General aviation comparison between China and the United States

The total flight hours in China and the United States are about 261,111 hours (including operation 11.4 and training in military academies 14.6) and 27.715 million hours, and the accumulated flight hours account for 81% of the total flight hours of civil aircraft.

private flight accounts for 33%, training flight accounts for 15.6%, and official flight accounts for 11.2%.

number of operating entities

There are 74 enterprises engaged in general aviation business activities, 14 registered non-operating general aviation activities and 2 natural persons.

5,111 companies have their own general aviation aircraft for business aviation, about 25,111 general aviation aircraft are piloted by individuals for commercial flights, and about 1 million aircraft are for private use.

pilots

There are 2,237 general aviation pilots with commercial pilot licenses and 1,419 with private pilot licenses.

There are nearly 711,111 pilots, including 597,111 general aviation pilots. The fleet size is 811 (including 677 aircraft and 124 helicopters) and 222,111 (including 182,111 aircraft and 9,159 helicopters). There are 398 general aviation airports and temporary landing sites (including, There are 69 general aviation airports and 329 temporary take-off and landing points) 18,111 airports for general aviation planes and helicopters to take off and land

After decades of development, China's general aviation industry has shown a good development trend: the scale of the industry is constantly expanding, the market system is constantly improving, and the management institutions are becoming more and more mature.

moreover, in the foreseeable future, with the continuous development of economy, China's demand for general aviation will also increase day by day, and this growth trend will continue.

however, on the whole, there is still a big gap between the development level of general aviation in China and the advanced countries in the world. Only by constantly improving our own strength, making overall plans and coordinating development, and vigorously developing the general aviation industry through a series of policies and measures, can we meet the growing market demand and become a world-renowned aviation power at an early date.