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For more on the reform of China’s low altitude airspace management, we’re joined in the studio by my colleague Wu Haojun.

Q1: Opening up the country’s low altitude airspace will undoubtedly¹ give a huge boost to the general aviation industry, but how are things looking now in the sector²?

A: Before we delve³ into that, a bit of ABC’s here first... when we talk about general aviation, we’re talking about civil, non-scheduled air services, ranging from helicopters to private jets. Here in China, these aircraft can only fly at low altitude, below 1,000 meters. Now according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the Chinese mainland has 226 general aviation companies and close to 18-hundred general aircraft. To give you a sense of how under-developed the sector is here, as well as how much potential it has... in the US, general aviation provides more than 1 percent of the country’s GDP, accounting⁴ for 1.3 million jobs in professional services and manufacturing. At the moment, China is playing catch-up. But it’s expected that by 2020, the country will have over 5,000 general aircraft, representing a new economic engine and an industry with a potential market demand of 15.5 billion dollars.

Q2: So there’s huge growth potential... but what are the key limits and challenges on Chinese general aviation?

A: First and foremost, restrictions⁵ on the use of low altitude airspace have limited any growth of the industry. But that’s not the only culprit. Experts say even if low-altitude restrictions were lifted, infrastructure⁶ shortcomings would still keep many aircraft grounded. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, currently there are only 65 general aviation airports, 300 temporary landing sites and one oil refinery⁷ producing general aviation fuel in China. And even for the much larger commercial aviation sector, problems abound⁸. According to a 2013 Flight Stats report, China’s airports rank among the worst in the world in terms of flight delays: 82 percent of flights at Beijing’s international airport, and 71 percent of flights out of Shanghai did not leave on time last year. A testament⁹, some say, to the industry’s current inability to handle large flight volumes.