Civil aviation in China
As of December 2017, there are 229 commercial airports in China.[1]
Around 500 airports of all types and sizes were in operation in 2007, about 400 of which had paved runways and about 100 of which had runways of 3,047 m or shorter. There also were 35 heliports in 2007, an increasingly used type of facility. With the additional airports came a proliferation of airlines.
China has the fastest growing passenger air market of any country in the world (by total passenger numbers) and between 2009 and 2014 the number of passengers increased over 47% from 266,293,020 to 390,878,784.[2] In 2014 China was second only to the United States in total numbers of passengers carried.[2]
History
The
In 1922, warlord Cao Kun conducted a 3-day trial tour for "Beijing-Han Airlines" using a Handley Page aircraft (likely a HP O/400 bomber modified for passenger use). That March 31, the aircraft hit trees, crashed, and burned, on approach to Beijing-Nanyuan, killing all 14 on board. This was the first airliner crash in China.[7]
In 1939 at
Before the
In 1949 the new government established the aviation authority and operator
With assistance from the Soviet Union, during the 1950s China built airports in major cities or enlarged the existing airports.[11]: 376
The national air carriers of communist countries were the first to obtain landing rights in China.[12] Pakistan's national air carrier was the first of any non-communist countries' national air carrier to do so.[12] Those landing rights were granted in August 1963 when an air travel agreement followed the Sino-Pakistan Agreement.[12]
Until the 1980s, generally only senior Chinese officials, academics, or foreigners could travel by plane.[11]: 376 Few tickets were available and these had to be obtained from danwei rather than purchased at airports.[11]: 376
In 1987, China's government separated the airline operations of General Administration of Civil Aviation of China into a number of state-owned enterprises. The regulatory role was retained by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China which is now known as Civil Aviation Administration of China.
In 2004, the turnover of airfreight reached 7.18 billion ton-km, the passenger turnover was 178.2 billion person-km, and the volume of freight traffic 2.767 million tons. China had a total of 1,279 civil flight routes, 1,035 of them domestic routes reaching all large and medium-sized cities, and 244 of them international, connecting China with more than 70 cities overseas.
China's passenger airline industry is dominated by the three state-owned airlines; Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.[13] There are limited competition from private operators in the commercial passenger market such as Spring Airlines but the state owned operators have the political and financial wherewithal from the central government to lead the market.[13]
China has never allowed smoking on airplanes.[11]: 376
Statistics
Passenger throughput
In 2009, passenger throughputs of all nationwide airports reached 486.063 million, up by 19.8% over the last year; cargo and mail throughputs were 9.456 million tons, up by 7.0%.
In 2009, the number of airports with passenger throughput over 1 million person-trips was 51, an increase of 4 over the last year; and the number of airports with cargo and mail throughput that is over 10 thousand ton was 45, an increase of 1 over 2008. 51 airports had over 10 thousand takeoffs and landings annually, increased by 4 as compared with the last year. All the above indicated that China's airports had increasingly strong operation capability.
The International Civil Aviation Organization reported that between 2009 and 2017, the number of air passengers carried in China increased by 140% from 229,062,099 to 551,234,509.[2]
Industrial clusters
In China, Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanchang are major research and manufacture centers of aerospace industry. China has developed extensive capability to design, test and produce military aircraft, missiles and space vehicles. However, despite the experimental model of Y-10, which was abolished [clarification needed] in 1984, China is still developing its civil aerospace industry.
Aerospace and aircraft
In 2007, China predicted that over the next twenty years its air transportation passenger volume will grow annually by 11%. It will become the world's second largest aviation market and will require an additional 1,790 aircraft to handle the increased volume. Expansion of airport infrastructure continues, with the
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has been making efforts to nationalize the country's airlines. It has completed
At present, CAAC is drafting the 11th Five-Year Plan and 2020 Vision for the aviation industry. It is expected that the annual growth rate will be 14%. By 2010, the total turnover will be 10 billion ton/km; the annual growth rate for general flight will be 10% and the total general flight volume will be 140,000 hours.
Airports and ground equipment
Along with passenger airport equipment, large growth has been seen in the
China is a fast-growing market for air traffic control equipment. Over the past 10 years, CAAC has spent approximately $1 billion on air traffic management (ATM) infrastructure improvements. By 2005, China had installed 31 primary radars, 52 secondary radars, more than 1,000
China also plans to introduce ground-to-air communications and
Air traffic control
China is a fast-growing ATC market. Over the past 10 years the CAAC has spent 10 billion yuan on ATM infrastructure improvements. The current (summer 2002) inventory comprises 31 radars, 52 secondary radars, more than 1,000 VHF communications systems, over 160 VOR/DMEs and more than 140 ILS units. The next target for the CAAC's Air Traffic Management Bureau is to improve facilities in the east and mid-west of the country. A comprehensive data network, new center-automation systems, ground-air voice/data communications and new en route radars will be required over the next 10 years.
China plans to introduce ground-air communications and automatic dependent surveillance services for international and polar routes in the west. The current airspace structure will be reorganized, reducing the 27 centers to five by 2010. Airspace environment in X'ian, Kunming, Chongging and Wuhan will be improved, and over the next five years two new en route centers (in addition to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) will be built.
Domestic Competition
China's high-speed rail system is already increasing competition for the domestic passenger traffic.
Manufacturers
- China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation
- Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
- Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group
- ACAC consortium
- China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
- Guizhou Aircraft Industry Co.
- Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
- Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation
- Shanghai Aviation Industrial Company
- Shaanxi Aircraft Company
- Shenyang Aircraft Corporation
- Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation
- People's Liberation Army Air Force
- China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
- China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II)
- Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense
- China Northern Industries
See also
- Air route authority between the U.S. and China
- Lunar New Year cross-strait charter
- People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)
- China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition
- List of Chinese aircraft
- List of Chinese aircraft engines
- Aircraft acquired by Chinese for civil/private and military/warlord use from before 1937
- List of airline holding companies
References
- ^ "CAAC Issues the Statistics Bulletin of Civil Airports in China 2017" (Press release). Civil Aviation Administration of China. April 9, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ The World Bank. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ 黃孝慈 (October 21, 2007). "caf02". Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
民國六年七月,安徽督軍張勳擁戴清廢帝溥儀在京復辟,舉國譁然。段祺瑞馬廠誓師,南苑航校秦國鏞校長親自駕機轟炸清宮枚平叛亂。
- ^ Fang, Tianyu (September 25, 2019). "As Daxing Airport Opens, a Farewell to Nanyuan, China's Oldest Airport". RADII | Stories from the center of China’s youth culture. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
In 1910, Nanhaizi became home to China's first airplane runways — also known as Nanyuan, literally "southern garden" — was soon put to use when Chinese aviator Qin Guoyong brought a Caudron trainer aircraft from France. It was the first time Chinese people ever witnessed a countryman flying an aircraft — one can imagine the excitement of visiting Nanyuan for the air show.
- ISBN 978-7-5165-0261-7.
本书是一部系统完整介绍中国近代航空工业史的专著,以丰富的史实从侧面反映了一个工业门类或体系在中国艰难发展、艰苦探索的历程。
- ^ Zhuang, Pinghui (September 28, 2019). "End of an era in civil aviation as China's first airport closes". South China Morning Post. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
Built in 1910 during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), China's first airport ceased to be a civil aviation facility at 11.21pm that day when China United Airlines – the airport's main carrier – transferred the last of its Nanyuan-based flights to Daxing.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Handley Page O/7 registration unknown Beijing-Nanyuan Airport". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
- doi:10.1108/eb030539
- ^ Theodore von Kármán (1967) The Wind and Beyond, pp 192–201, Little, Brown and Company
- ^ William M. Leary (1984) Perilous Missions, Civil Air Transport and CIA Covert Operations in Asia, The University of Alabama Press, Alabama
- ^ ISBN 9780295751719.
- ^ OCLC 939553543.
- ^ a b Wines, Michael (August 29, 2010). "China Fortifies State Businesses to Fuel Growth". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ Bergman, Justin (April 29, 2016). "This is why China's airports are a nightmare". BBC Worklife. Retrieved January 25, 2022.