While the world awaits the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, China’s capital has been up and active as it played host to the much-anticipated 5th China General Aviation Forum.

Since its inception five years ago, the China GA Forum has transformed into the largest and most prestigious event in Chinese general aviation.

Since the first General Aviation Forum began in 2003, it has evolved into one of the most anticipated events in Chinese aviation. The event has become the center of China’s general aviation industry, and the 2007 version of the event has become an arena where current issues on development and plans of China’s general aviation were discussed in depth. At the same time, it opens the door of opportunity for both seasoned veterans and newcomers alike that yearns to do business in China’s fast-growing general aviation market. The forum encourages its attendees to set up business relationships between companies and enterprises, and at the same time help assess their market capabilities in the fields of Chinese aviation.

From October 7th to 9th, an influx of delegates flocked inside the FBO Atrium of the Beijing Capital International Airport's newest crown jewel with fascination and excitement.

Attendees got a sense of the investments and market potential that exist in China’s general aviation as they roamed enthusiastically around the world’s largest FBO. The forum consists of people representing the world's most prominent business enterprises, general aviation companies and investors from within China and all over the world.

More than 100 international and Chinese attendees from regarded firms took part in the event. These companies include: China Easter Airlines, Taiwan Aerospace, Shanghai irlines,Deer Jet, GE Aviation, Beijing Sino-Aviation Research Institute, Hawker Beechcraft, Flight Training Australia, Dassault falcon Jet Corp., CNAF Jet Service Co., Louisville

executive aviation, Flight Inspection Center of CAAC,China National Aero-Techonology Import & Export Corporation, China GA Soars High in Beijing Written By Allan Magdaluyo Angela Hu China General Aviation Forum 2007 Review Emergency Assistance Investment Co., Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation and many others.

The forum was munificently sponsored by industry leaders such as Boeing Business Jets, Lufthansa Teknik, Lektro, Sprung Instant Structures, AVCARD, Honeywell Aerospace, Jeppesen Dataplan,Landmark Aviation, TAG Aviation Asia and Clay Lacy Aviation. The Capital Airports Holding Company VIP Department and the China Civil Aviation Report hosted the event.

It was co-hosted by the China Aviation Transportation Association General Aviation Committee, the People’s Government of Jilin Municipality, Capital Jet Company Ltd., and Uniworld LLC.

The three-day forum on “The World's Largest Emerging GA Market” covered such topics as the inside view of the Chinese market for executive aviation, and the opportunities and obstacles faced by expanding into Chinese General Aviation market. Other topics included: strategy development in General Aviation both in China and abroad, building China’s GA by establishing emergency response capabilities through teaming with local entrepreneurs, the current situation of China’s general aviation sector, and many others. To pics were addressed by respected authorities in the aviation community.

 

Reception 6th November 2007

The delegates began the reception day experiencing mixed emotions of joy, wonder and enthusiasm as they walked inside the cozy multi-million-dollar and state-of-the-art FBO of the Beijing Capital international Airport to register for the event.

At the opening reception, Francis Chao, Publisher of the CCAR, delivered the opening remarks, giving the reception a bouncing kick-off. The party’s sponsor, Asia-Pacific Boeing Business Jets, through Sales Director Jeff S.Dunn, gave the welcoming remarks.

Everyone seemed delighted to see old faces as well as meet new ones as they toured the biggest FBO in the world to prepare for the days ahead. The atmosphere and the exchange of pleasantries gave the 5th GA Forum a perfect start.

As the reception came to a close, the attendees returned to their hotels to rest in anticipation of the first day of the General Aviation Forum 2007.

Day 1 7th November 2007

The cozy atmosphere of the place, ironic in the five-degree weather outside, gave the attendees a feeling of comfort and relaxation as they began the first day of the forum. Early in the morning of November 7th, the attendees, still high with excitement from last night’s reception,took to the shuttle bus for the BCIA’s FBO. As they arrived inside the hall, they were met with a grand conference setup. The conference provided a cocktail-party-style arrangement in which the attendees could freely roam around the place,change seats in order to know more people and develop personal and business relationships with one another.

The forum officially began with CCAR Publisher Francis Chao delivering the opening remarks. Zhao Qijiang, chairman of the board of Capital Airports Holding Company VIP Department, formally welcomed the delegates of China GA Forum 2007 to Beijing.

In the first part of the program, Jin Junhao of the Policy and Regulation of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, delivered the speech on behalf of the CAAC. He introduced certain policies and action for implementation by China’s aviation authority on the country’s general aviation.

One of the highlights of the conference was the attendance of a large delegation representing a local government. The People’s Government of Jilin Municipality formed a delegation to attend the forum, the first time that a local government formed such a delegation for this purpose. The Deputy Major of The People’s Government of Jilin Municipality, Zhu Tianshu, gave a dazzling talk, introducing Jilin city, discussing the northeast industrial base of China, and extending the municipality’s desire to hastenthe development of their general aviation.

The General Manager of Capital Airports Holding Company VIP Department, Chen Jingyun, gave a talk about the VIP Department. Her talk included a discussion of the role,

administration, managing resource, service items, and portfolio of the department. She highlighted the new FBO, which brought a high tide to the conference. She mentioned that the new FBO was opened for use on June 6th of 2007 while its special plane building began operation in November of the same year. According to Chen, the new FBO was the first in China, and its completion signaled the arrival of China’s Business Aviation.

On the same day, a free exchange conference took place. A representative of the world’s biggest aviation producer, Boeing Business Jet, also gave a wonderful talk on private aviation, suggesting that the world’s aviation market is paying great attention to the general aviation market of China. Jeff S. Dunn, BBJ sales director for Asia-Pacific, showed a presentation of “BBJ taking off in a big way for private aviation.” Dunn’s presentation included Boeing Business Jet’s history, product line, productivity tool,sales history, customer demographics, geographic regions, investment and more.

Lufthansa Teknik’s Walter Heerdt, senior vice president of Marketing and Sales, talked about “In view of the Chinese Market for Executive Aviation.” Lufthansa Teknik is the biggest technical support and service supplier in the world. Heerdt stressed the VIP and Executive Jet Solutions by Lufthansa Teknik. He also discussed the key drivers of the Chinese VIP market development and the further steps involving the VIP Business in China.

The General Manager of Capital Jet Co. Ltd., Jin Yongfa, introduced the Capital Jet Co. Ltd., and provided an interactive late-morning session with the attendees. Jin tackled the details of every question thrown at him, adding another energetic session to the event.

After a sumptuous lunch, the delegates toured the new FBO and the special plane building of the BCIA. They were amazed by the concise and spectacular edifice. The entire afternoon session was set inside the new FBO.

Kevin Wu, vice president of Textron, gave an introduction about his company, after which he provided a deep analysis of the opportunities and obstacles in expanding into the Chinese general aviation market. Embraer-China Sales Director Geng Gang touched on “The Executive Jets Markets and Embraer's Commitment,” which includes the plan of Embraer and its analysis of the future business aviation market of China.

Cui Jianmin, sales manager of Rockwell Collins, brought in the advanced avionics technologies for business aviation and advised on flight safety. Brian Whelan of Peet Aviation gave a presentation on the “Strategy Development in General Aviation.” Included among the topics in his presentation were the strategies in general aviation, the aviation supply chain, strategy development and method. Jason Liao, sales director of Hawker Beechcraft of North Asia, delivered a presentation entitled “Business Aviation Has Arrived.” The talk illustrated Hawker Beechcraft's forecast on the aviation business and its vast potential in China.

The first day of presentations ended with much information on China's current position on general aviation and the major aviation companies' respective stand on the issue. Interaction between speakers and attendees gave the first day of the forum a sense of achievement.

Late in the afternoon, the delegates went to Beijing's Inner Mongolian Restaurant for a banquet dinner where the forum attendees enjoyed and were delighted by the Traditional Mongolian Dinner and Show that awaited them.

Day 2 8th November 2007

The second day of the forum maintained stride with the eventful first day. It began with a talk by Jing Yongfa, general manger of Beijing Capital Jet Co. Ltd., on Ground Handling for Business Jets at Beijing Capital Airport. He introduced in detail the operation procedure of BCIA's business aviation and site-relevant situations. After his presentation, a question-and-answer forum developed which sparked the entire morning session.

The next speaker, Qin Youxing, General Manager of Beijing Capital General Aviation Co. Ltd., delivered a talk on helicopter operation in the electric power energy field. Qin provided an introduction about the company and its achievements. Doctor Carl Chen of Caltech presented to the delegates his personal views in developing China's general aviation. He gave a comparative analysis of the general aviation of the United States and China, and cited the strength and weakness of the latter's general aviation.

The economic consultant of the People's Government of Jilin Municipality, Qian Qizeng, presented to the attendees a view of the Jilin Aviation Industry District emphasizing the region's advantages in developing general aviation. Qin extended the delegation a warm welcome to China's north city and encouraged companies to help in the development of Jilin's general aviation.

The last topic of the second day's morning session touched upon aviation rescue. Liu Shijiang, vice general manager of China Emergency Assistance Investment Co. Ltd., said that it is essential to create an aviation rescue center and further develop careers on human rescue through general aviation.

Momentum at the forum was momentarily broken to give way to a hefty lunch inside the capital airport restaurant. Later that day, the conference mood was back in full swing.

The afternoon session began with Doctor Ram Pattisapu, President of the IndUS Aviation, talking on “Light Sport Aircraft Impact on Growth of General Aviation.” Dr. Pattisapu's presentation included such topics as an introduction to the concept of Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) and the Sport Pilot category, the importance of LSA manufacturing in China, advantages for pilot training, and the worldwide growth of GA through LSA.

Beijing Sino-Aviation Researcher Institute Senior Specialist Li Dali then offered a presentation about the General Aviation development in China's far-west regions. The topic offered several significant views in developing Tibet and Qing Hai province general aviation.

FTA General Manager Gary Young then introduced the main articulation streams of the Flight Training Australia. Young also shared his extensive experience in flight training. Next, Aerial Archives' Herb Lingl delivered a talk on the business opportunities of aerial imaging and mapping.

The last topic of the day was delivered by private pilot Jane Zhang, who shared a detailed personal experience of her career as a pilot and gave attendees a look at the better side of flying.

After an exhilarating day of lectures and discussion about general aviation progression and its practical application in China, the delegates took the rest of the afternoon to visit the newly-built terminal three of the Beijing Capital International Airport. The terminal will be ready for use by February 2008, in time for the Olympic Games in Beijing in August. BCIA's terminal three is to be the biggest in the world.

After the advance visit to terminal three, the delegation went to Beijing's Xie Dao restaurant to enjoy a feast of traditional Chinese food and be entertained by an acrobatic show prepared especially for them. While others enjoyed the feast and the show, most of the attendees continued to chat about the day's forum.

3 Day 9th November 2007

The third and last day of the forum started with a seminar of vital importance. Although all the fundamental goals of the forum had already been reached, the delegates still yearned for more discussion and information about general aviation.

The seminar on “The Capitalization and Finance for the Small Business” provided by the China Aviation Transportation Association General Aviation Committee added extra mileage to the 2007 GA Forum. The seminar's presenter, Xu Junfeng, touched on two important aspects of small business capitalization and finance. Xu's presentation included the status, internal and external conditions, and solutions on the financial issue in line with general aviation. As expected, the vibrant seminar resulted in a salvo of questions answered by the presenter and the respected authorities of the China Aviation Transportation Association General Aviation Committee. This demsonstrated that the forum had just opened another year of new horizons and wider opportunities for China's general aviation industry.

Zhao Qijiang, chairman of the board of Capital Airports Holding Company VIP Department, delivering the closing words. Zhao announced the plan for the sixth GA Forum in 2008. The plan is to hold it at the same time as the 2008 Olympic Games.

The China General Aviation Forum 2007 ended with Francis Chao, publisher of the China Civil Aviation Report, thanking the delegates for attending the event. Chao acknowledged all the sponsors and delegates for contributing to the success of the fifth General Aviation Forum. He expresses his hope on China's general aviation further development.

In conclusion, the fifth General Aviation Forum brought general aviation to the next level. Attendees received the chance to witness the next stage of Chinese general aviation. The forum helped set up business and personal relationships among attendees, and explored in advance and got an up-close-and-personal feel of Beijing International Capital Airport's latest FBO and terminal three building. The 2007 Forum achieved many of its essential goals, the most important of which was to increase support and foster new business relationships while reinforcing existing ones to aid in the development of the general aviation of China. China needs to hasten the exploration and development of its general aviation, and it will need the help of its local and international counterparts to promote its general aviation industry.

After five years, China General Aviation Forum 2007 is, thus far, the most extensive GA forum ever assembled.