China's first private jet hub to open next year

BEIJING - China's first private jet hub is expected to open next year in Shanghai as the country slowly works on easing the tight control of its airspace, a news report said Saturday.

Work began Friday on the Hongqiao Airport Business Aviation Center, a joint venture between Shanghai's airport authority and Australia's Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd., the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported. The airport authority holds a 51 percent stake.

The hub will be expected to handle about 6,000 flights a year when completed, most from overseas, the report said.

China has been under rising pressure to further open its skies as available flight paths grow increasingly crowded.

The country's military controls about 80 percent of China's airspace, and more room is needed for the sharp rise in civilian air traffic, Dorothy Reimold, a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration official, said earlier this year.

Even state media, including the China Daily newspaper, has said restrictions are "stunting" the industry's growth in China.

The Shanghai Airport Authority has said the private jet hub will open in the second half of next year.

The hub will be at the older of Shanghai's two airports, about a half-hour drive from downtown. The 80 million yuan ($11.6 million) project will include 53,800 square feet (5,000 square meters) of hangar space and 32,300 square feet (3,000 square meters) of space for operations and passengers, plus maintenance services and space for meetings.

Neither the airport authority nor the joint venture, Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Ltd., could be reached Saturday morning.

Though the Civil Aviation Administration of China is said to be working on reforms to make more airspace available, the process has been slow. Pilots of private planes still have to apply a day in advance to the local air traffic control bureau to fly a fixed route. Improvised routes require even more time.

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