AVIC enjoys double boost in hot market

In January this year, a 5-year-old boy fell on a ski slope near Zhangjiakou, a city in North China's Hebei province, and suffered serious injury.

As he needed to be transported to Beijing for surgery that local hospitals were unable to perform, Beijing Red Cross Emergency Rescue Center sent a helicopter, which took only three hours to ship the boy to a hospital in Beijing - the first time that the center used a helicopter for an emergency.

And, earlier this month, when the two-day summit meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Beijing, the city's police had two helicopters to patrol over the city three times a day.

Light helicopters have the advantages of having low maintenance costs, and can act in a great many different roles, such as flight training, aerial photography, medical aid, and forest fire prevention, added Zhao.

AVIC, considered as China's major domestic aircraft maker, is developing a series of five helicopter models, with lift-off weights ranging from 1 metric ton (the AC311 is 2 tons) to 13 tons.

Three of the five models have been granted their type certificates, while two others are on the way to gaining approval.

France's Eurocopter, which has a current market share of about 40 percent in China's business aviation sector, is also increasing its marketing efforts, setting up offices in seven cities around China, such as Wuhan, Chengdu and Harbin.

The company recently reported that China would need about 500 helicopters by the end of 2015 as the nation deregulates and opens its low-altitude airspace.

Bruno Boulnois, CEO of Eurocopter China, was reported as saying in March that, as business and private aviation has huge potential in China, the company has prepared turnkey solutions for Chinese customers.

Industry insiders said that with their good safety records and established after-sales operations, the international companies still represent serious competition for China's manufactures.

Liu Liangjun, general manager of Changsha-based GALink Aviation Technology, which has sold business jets, helicopters and aviation parts for more than 10 years in the country, said that new helicopter models will take a few years to mature, while customers, usually wealthy people, will tend to favor foreign brands that have been sold in the market for many years that have abundant records to show they are mature and safe.

"Helicopter safety performance is regarded as a factor more important than the price tag, and new helicopter models will have to need a long time to prove that to potential buyers," he said, adding that after-sales service is an important factor considered by customers.

xindingding@chinadaily.com.cn