Advisers call for more low-altitude airspace

The government should speed up the reform of low-altitude airspace management to boost China's general aviation sector, national lawmakers and political advisers have suggested.

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"The civil aviation and military authorities should publish the Regulation on Low-altitude Airspace Management as soon as possible and open more low-altitude airspace," said Meng Xiangkai, a deputy to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and chairman of China Aviation Industry General Aircraft. He was talking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the congress.

"Most of the opened airspace is above remote, underdeveloped areas and separated from each other. Moreover, many restrictions are still in place for flights near big cities."

China started to relax tight control on its low-altitude airspace in 2011 and opened up the airspace below 1,000 meters in nine selected regions to suitably qualified general aviation aircraft.

However, the country's low-altitude airspace is still dominated by the air force and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Private aircraft are required to file for approval before they can take off. The time-consuming and complicated application procedure has frustrated many who want to own aircraft and has hampered demand for private jets in the country.

"We request related authorities to continue to streamline their approval procedures for general aviation flights," Meng said. "The government should also gradually open the airspace below 3,000 meters to enable more aircraft to fly."

Even after an aircraft receives permission for a flight, the pilot still has to deal with a host of difficulties, such as a lack of airports that can support general aviation aircraft and a lack of ground service professionals.