A red four-seater aircraft on show in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, draws crowds of people eager to pose for a photo. The Cirrus SR22 GTS, owned by a businessman in Shaanxi, is the first private plane in the northwest.
Chen Yilong, a real estate tycoon from Weinan City, bought the US-made aircraft for more than 5 million yuan early this year and displayed it at the 2009 China International General Aviation Convention in Xi’an from October over th weekend.
Many wage earners who could never dream of owning their own aircraft basked in Chen’s reflected glory. “Even though I myself cannot afford a privte aircraft, it’s good to know other northwesterners can,” said Xi’an resident Zhang Xiaoqiang. “Maybe in a decade or two, I’ll own one, too. Who knows? I couldn’t afford a car 10 years ago – now I’ve gotFor the rich like Chen, owning a plane is one thing, but flying it is quite another. “I might not be able to fly for five years. I’m prepared for that,” said Chen, 50Low-altitude airspace is controlled by the Air Force and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Private flights need approval each time, and the procedure takes at least half a day, making private flight a less than enticing event.
“To avoid such restrictions, youwould need to buy a high-performance aircraft that can easily reach high-altitudes. But those sell for at least $10 million (68 million yuan) each, plus running costs of 5 million yuan a year,” Li He, regional sales manger of Avion Pacific Limited, said.
