Aviation-related industries ready for takeoff in Hunan

Editor's note: In a series of reports titled "Claims to Fame", China Daily looks at how some regions have earned wealth and recognition through specific products to advance economic development.

Deng Yanpei, 59, has dreamed of flying since he was a child.

At the age of 7, he held up an umbrella and jumped off a second-floor platform onto a mound of sand. All he did was injure his feet, which after more than 50 years still sometimes ache.

Last year, Deng obtained a pilot's license for general aviation after training at Hunan Sunward General Aviation Co in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, realizing his dream of one day flying an aircraft. "I was about to retire soon, and as I had more time and financial means, I decided to chase my dream," he said.

"You cannot realize all of your childhood dreams, but once you achieve one of them, the sense of happiness is overwhelming," Deng added.

As China steps up its efforts to develop the low-altitude economy and general aviation industry, more people have enjoyed the opportunity to fly.

Meanwhile, various aerial craft, such as large airships for low-altitude tourism, drones for express delivery, and aircraft used in emergency rescues, are being more widely deployed across the country, providing exciting new development opportunities.

The central leadership recently reiterated its determination to improve the institutions and mechanisms for modernizing infrastructure, according to a resolution adopted at the third plenum of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee.

It is estimated that the market size of the low-altitude economy will surge from over 500 billion yuan ($70.3 billion) in 2023 to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Pilot program

Hunan is the first province to pilot the reform of low-altitude airspace management. In Zhuzhou, the city where China's first aircraft engine was made, development of the low-altitude economy has accelerated in recent years.

Zhuzhou has more than 120 enterprises involved in the aviation industry. The city is home to Zhuzhou Lusong Airport, the only A1, or highest-level general aviation airport, in the province.

Dong Rui, a marketing manager for the airport, said it has opened two sightseeing routes flying to Zhangjiajie in Hunan and Jinggangshan in Jiangxi province.

About 30 to 50 aspiring pilots train at the airport every year. The airport also tests and licenses operators of large-scale drones. Hundreds of people take such tests every month, Dong said.

Wang Jingyi, general manager of the airport, said they are planning to add a new runway to meet the burgeoning demands of the general aviation industry.

More people are eager to do pilot or drone-operator training, while aircraft manufacturers need more space to test their products, she said. "Although it is still a niche market, we are optimistic about its prospects," Wang said.

Reach for the sky

Deng obtained his pilot's license at the airport on Oct 10 last year, after signing up for training in July of the same year.

Any Chinese citizen aged 17 or above and with at least a junior high school education, can apply for a private pilot's license. After receiving a certified report of their physical fitness, they have to go through 40 hours of theoretical studies, five hours of simulation studies if a flight simulator is present, and 40 hours of flying training before they take the relevant tests.

Deng said in the beginning, the weightless feeling from doing different flying moves made him uncomfortable, but he quickly got used to it. "After getting over the discomfort, excitement kicked in and I was able to make more difficult moves," he said.

He has flown almost 500 times and is getting more relaxed and skilled as a pilot.

"Rather than being at a loss navigating so many things simultaneously, as I was in the beginning, I can enjoy flying now and I feel happier," he said.

Deng said many of his friends envy him for getting his pilot's license, and he has re-posted videos of himself practicing flying.

He views the pilot's license as a retirement gift to himself. "You are never too old to get out of your comfort zone and realize decades-old dreams," he said.

Zeng Qinglun, 25, who works for a media outlet in Zhuzhou, obtained a pilot's license at the airport in July.

When he was in high school he tried a flight simulator at the airport, and after he started work he decided to fulfill his dream of learning how to pilot a plane.

"What I like most about flying is that it is so free and relaxed, and I feel that I belong in the air once the aircraft takes off," he said.

Yu Zhangchang, general manager of Hunan Sunward General Aviation Co, said the company has trained more than 300 pilots and more than 4,000 people have used their flight simulators.

With more support from the government for the general aviation industry, Yu said he is witnessing an increasing number of people wanting to experience flying.

"I am very optimistic about the industry and I believe it will take three to five years for flying to become common in people's lives," he said.

Homegrown thrills

To popularize flying, the company established China's first civil aerobatic team in 2014, which has since performed at more than 40 air shows in 16 provincial regions.

Yu, also a retired flyer of People's Liberation Army Air Force, is a member of the team.

"We are the first civil aerobatic team in China piloting aircraft developed by Chinese companies, and we are very proud to have led the development of civil aerobatic shows in the country," he said.

The team is very proud of its aerobatic routine, which is renowned for its precision and creativity, he said.

Starair Aircraft Co's Aurora — the first lightweight sports aircraft developed domestically — is the only model flown by Yu's team.

The first Aurora was manufactured by the company in October 2008. As of Sept 20 this year, the company had made 300 of the aircraft, which is sold to clients in 28 provincial-level regions across the country.

The plane also won flying approval from aviation authorities in the United States in 2019, and Australia in 2023.

Weighting only 350 kilograms, the two-seat airplane has a maximum flying distance of 1,200 kilometers and can fly at a speed of up to 265 km per hour.

Deng Yu, general manager of Starair Aircraft, said the company is very optimistic about the future commercial prospects of the plane.

"In the beginning, we named the plane the Aurora because we wanted to sell it to overseas market, but it is the Chinese market where we first realized a breakthrough," he said.

Deng said the company is striving to improve the quality of the Aurora while lowering its price, so it is competitive in the international market.

"The design and technology of the airplane are among the top levels in the world," he said. "We want to further cut the manufacturing costs so that after the costs of tariffs, shipping, and sales agents are factored in, the airplane is still competitive in overseas markets."

The company wants to expand the Aurora's sales to markets including North America, Europe, Oceania and Southeast Asia, he said.

Despite the progress in the domestic general aviation industry, Deng believes there is still a wide gap to other countries in infrastructure building and the opening of lower-altitude space. The US, for example, has more than 20,000 airports for general aviation, while China only has around 400, he said.

While the central government has encouraged the development of the low-altitude economy and general aviation, safety is still its top priority, so opening up low-altitude airspace has been done in an incremental way, he said.

Aerial rescue services

Starair Aircraft has also spent three years in research and development of a firefighting truck equipped with drones to put out fires in high-rise buildings.

The drones, which carry fire hoses as well as electric wires for power, can fly as high as 280 meters to fight a building fire.

Deng is optimistic the sales prospects of the drone-equipped firetruck, and believes it can exceed the sales revenue of the Aurora in one to two years.

The drone-equipped truck is expected to hit the market by the end of this year, and is predicted to become one of Starair Aircraft's flagship products.

Deng said the company expects to sell more than 1,000 firetrucks, with forecast sales revenue of up to 10 billion yuan.

The low-altitude space economy is an important part of China's new-quality productive forces and has a very bright future, which is why the company has stayed in the industry for such a long time, he said.

However, the development of aircraft requires a large amount of investment and time. It also takes time to build the required infrastructure and popularize a "flying culture", Deng added. Companies operating in the industry, therefore, still need to take a rational approach to development and not be too impulsive, he said. "It is an industry worth the long-term investment," he added.

Emergency rescue is another area where general aviation companies are making a big difference.

Ou Deqing, president of Xiangwei General Aviation in Zhuzhou, said that during the disastrous landslides in Zixing, Hunan, in July — which left 50 people dead and 15 others missing — roads and communications were cut, and the company's helicopters transported emergency goods and lifted stranded people to safety.

The helicopters were deployed in Zixing for more than 10 days and made more than 600 trips, he said. "People said that they had hope with the arrival of each aircraft and we are very proud of our work," he said.

In cooperation with emergency response, firefighting and public security authorities in Hunan, the company established the first flight teams in the province for emergency rescues, firefighting and air police work, he said.

It has also conducted fire rescue operations, forest firefighting, flood rescues, and agricultural seeding and spraying across the country, he added.

"There is much more that we can do and we believe we are on the right track of business development," Ou said.

Zhu Youfang contributed to this story.