Zhuhai’s General Aviation in a Difficult Predicament

In 2010, the construction project of Zhuhai’s general aviation airport was proposed. However, at this point and amid much controversy, the airport’s site has not yet been decided.

Thomas Hsueh, President of the Zhuhai Yanzhou Aircraft Company said his company received an order for 10 aircraft in 2012 but could not get approval to use Zhuhai Airport for the mandatory test flights of the airframes before they could be delivered. “We even planned on building a runway ourselves, but could not get approval for that either.”

It is worth mentioning that, for security reasons, the standards and requirements GA airports in China are held up to are very high. In addition to runways and hangars, towers and other monitoring equipment must also be built. As a result, creating a GA airport often requires an investment reaching hundreds of millions of Yuan.

"In foreign counties, especially in the U.S., a GA airport only needs a piece of land, a runway, several hangars and a self-service gas station, all at very low cost.” Thomas said we should learn from the U.S. on general aviation and not try to turn a simple GA airport into a commercial one.