Brief Introduction of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” for China’s Civil Aviation | The JetAv Blog by Paul Pitts.
The goal of China’s “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” is to strategically build aviation in order to guide the development of the civil aviation industry to ensure continued safety, to speed up the construction of the infrastructure and to improve the air transport network, enhance the quality of transport and actively develop general aviation significantly enhancing the capacity of civil aviation and its comprehensive services.
Part I: Enhancing Airport Security
1. Optimize Airport Layout
Implement the overall “National Civil Airports Layout Plan”, and use economic & social development as a means to adjust and perfect it. Consummate the international hub airports and the trunk airports as the backbone, and the regional airports as supplementary for the aviation network. Enhance the airports complementary function in the areas of the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei to promote the multi-airport system. By 2015, civil airports will cover more than 81% of the total of counties and cities, cover more than 83% of the population and more than 94% of the GDP.
2. Speed Up Airport Construction
Speeding up the existing airports capacities. Actively promote airport expansion projects and improve airport security capabilities. Further strengthen the three hub constructions in Beijing, Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou to improve international hub functions.
Relocate the airports in Qinhuangdao, Jinzhou, Luzhou, Yanan and others, while studying the construction of the new airports in Chengdu, Qingdao, Xiamen and Dalian.
Construct new regional airports rationally. Actively promote the re-construction of the non-transport airports or transfer into the transport airports, and encourage the use of the already existing military airports.
Actively construct airport ATC facilities. Speed up the upgrading of the ATC facilities in the small and medium-sized airports, gradually realizing the standardized configuration, and overall improving and upgrading the ATC security capabilities of the small and medium-sized airports.
3. Improve Operation Management Efficiency
Deepen the reform of airport management, develop new airport businesses, promote the transforming of the business operation model, improve the efficiency of the resources allocated, and build a fair, high quality, high efficient airport public service platform. Optimize airport service procedures, improve the information exchange platform, perfect service facilities and the procedure design, reduce baggage sorting error rates and realize direct baggage transferring at the hub. Implement an operation scheme to fully exert airports infrastructure capacities, and promote the multi-airport system and multi-runway operation efficiency.
4. Secure the Aviation Fuel Supply
The aviation fuel supply will be about 28.5 million tons in 2015. Reasonable layout and construction of the refined oil storage and transportation distribution base in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim and Southwest Region and construction of the aviation fuel strategic reserves in Southern China.
Improve aviation fuel acquisition capabilities; develop aviation fuel logistics, stabilize, expand and optimize the aviation fuel supply channel. According to the key airport relocation and expansion projects, strengthen the logistics, storage, filling and long distance pipelines at the airports in Guangzhou, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Xiamen and etc.. Explore and implement an aviation fuel supply security pattern suitable for general aviation and regional aviation. Enhance aviation fuel safety management.
Part II: Establish a Modern ATC Service System
1. Improve the ATC Network
Plan & adjust the air route network, to form an air route network frame with a hub-and-spoke air route network, regional trunk air route network and regional air route network. Build domestic mega-capability air channel. In the busy regions such as Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shanghai and etc., add a number of trunk air routes or design parallel air routes. Construct the mega-capability hub-and-spoke air routes and regional trunk air routes. Expand the ATC network coverage. Optimize air route structures in the busy regions.
2. Improve ATC operational efficiency
Deepen the reform of the regional control zone, adjusting it to 8 upper control areas and 27 middle and low control zones. Strengthen the ATC center constructions and promote the mega-area control operation in the upper control areas. Implement the RVSM. Establish the ATC operation management system. Optimize the ATC operation coordination mechanism, continuously promote airspace management and adopt mechanisms for innovation. Strengthen the construction of the weather and flight information services capabilities.
3. Enhance ATC Technology Security
Improve the ATC automation level, using the upper control center as the core and establishing a national ATC automation system integration framework. Improve the ATC communications, navigation and surveillance. Improve the ATC equipment operation management level. Promote the application of new ATC technology and enhance the construction of an advanced technological service platform. Focus on the application of the automation system integration process, ATN/AMHS, ground-air data link system, GBAS, en route convective weather forecast system, plateau airport weather forecast system and other new technologies.
Part III: Improve Civil Aviation Service Capability
1. Vigorously Develop Passenger Transportation
Optimize the domestic trunk route network construction. Develop shuttle passenger transportation; increase direct flight density; construct the trunk air transportation channel; develop aviation express transportation among the trunk airports with over 10 million passenger volume. Increase the level of flight density among the hub-and-spoke airports, provincial capitals, open coastal cities and key tourism cities. Lead the airlines to provide multilevel, differential aviation services. Encourage low cost airlines to gradually integrate into the main trunk transportation market.
Promote regional aviation development. Encourage code-sharing, joint ventures and transportation cooperation for regional flights; promote the inaccessible and smooth transport capabilities for regional aviation. Optimize the access system for regional aviation. Choose the northwest, southwest and other ground accessible area for the trial and implementation of the basic aviation service plan.
Vigorously develop the hub-and-spoke operation for supporting international passenger transportation. Optimize the international air route network, increase the European & US air route density, try to open international routes for connecting China with South America and Africa and actively promote the integration process in the nearby Asia region. Increase the coverage and scope of the hub-and-spoke network radius, increase the distribution capability of the hub, and improve the international passengers transfer percentage.
Actively participate in the cooperation and competition with international counterparts. Participate in the cooperation and competition with the international civil technical & economic areas in a bigger range, more areas and a higher level; import investment, technology and management with an open attitude. Foster the mega-networking airlines with international competition capabilities; set up the aviation cargo carriers with stronger international competition capabilities; and promote international aviation transportation competition abilities.
2. Actively Develop Cargo & Mail Transportation
Improve international cargo capabilities. Encourage the merger and acquisition, restructuring and business cooperation among cargo airlines. Establish one all-cargo airline with stronger international competition capabilities. Actively and gradually open the cargo market, lead our cargo airlines to open international air routes, join the international cargo airlines alliance and expand air cargo networks.
Promote air cargo logistics services. Encourage the cargo airlines to cooperate with railroad, highway, waterway and other transportation enterprises and the postal service, as well as express delivery enterprises to optimize ground logistics networks, and develop a multi-mode transportation network. Encourage the set up of aviation bonded logistic parks nearby the airports. Guide in the building of the aviation logistics public information platform.
Support and encourage cargo airlines to build air cargo hubs, distribution centers and express mail processing centers, as well as provide the support for air route operation rights and flight schedules. Guide the forming of three international cargo hubs in Bohai Rim, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. Enhance airport cargo hub construction in Shenyang, Xiamen, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi’an, Urumqi and etc..
3. Try to Increase the On-Time Flight Rate
Take the necessary measures to improve the on-time flight rate. Optimize the statistical approach for the on-time flight rate, implement measures for the refinement of the minimum commitment standard for transportation services. Establish the public information notification mechanism for on-time flight rates and the average delay times in the major airports. Use the on-time flight rate as the preconditions for the application of air routes and flights. At large airports, adopt the “cutting the peak and filling the basin” strategy to avoid flight jams. Build an incentive and restrain mechanism for on-time flight rates, and improve the ATC level for improving the on-time flight rate.
Establish a large-area flight delay emergency mechanism. The large airports, airlines and ATC units must establish and improve their information centers and command centers in case of a large-area flight delay emergency. Timely and effectively notifying of the flight delay information and solutions to the general public. Build an evaluation mechanism for the treatment after the flight delays.
Part IV: Speed Up General Aviation
1. Promote Infrastructure Construction
Explore the low-altitude airspace operation mode for general aviation. Build up the layout for GA airports, landing points, establish and optimize the integrated security capabilities, i.e. ATC, maintenance and oil supplies, form a batch of aviation service stations, and introduce the FBOs. Support non-profit aviation service networks for agriculture and forestry, sea rights, emergency rescue in the east coast, northeast and west China. Speed up the commuter airports’ layout and construction in the special area.
2. Improve the Enterprises’ Operation Environment
Support GA enterprises ran by the general public and participate in the construction of GA airports and operation security facilities. Establish a subsidy mechanism to support and lead the development of the GA enterprise. Consolidate GA’s traditional services in the industries of agriculture, forestry, flight training and etc. Actively explore commuter flights, business flights, air tours and private flights. Increase the number of GA enterprises, enlarge the operation scope and focus on 3-5 key GA enterprises. Speed up the commuter aviation pilot zone in Inner Mongolia, and select a number of regions in the west and northwest for the construction of commuter aviation. Set up the market orientation and fees for the benefit management of GA enterprise development.
3. Optimize the Regulation & Standards
Accelerate the development of the standards and construction procedures for GA airports and landing points. Speed up the development of regulations for GA market access, and standardize the classifications of GA operations, and further lower the barriers to market entry. Simplify the non-profit GA entity’s registration process. Optimize the GA industry’s statistics index system and plan the GA construction information system.
Optimize the GA operation regulations. Speed up the GA safety monitoring systems, further enhance and optimize the construction of the GA safety system. Construct and optimize the ATM mechanism and technical specifications for China’s GA development.
Work on the low-altitude airspace management reform supporting works. Modify the “Regulations on GA flights”, construct a low-altitude airspace regulations and standards system, research the operational management mechanism. Before 2015, set up pilot zones in Beijing, Lanzhou, Ji’nan, Nanjing, Chengdu, and construct the low-altitude operational management & service security system.
Part V: Secure Aviation Continuous Safety
1. Perfect the Safety Monitoring Management System
Establish a healthy safety monitoring system to cover the whole industry, realize the network monitoring operation mode for cross specialty and cross region cooperation.
2. Enhance the Security System’s Construction
Establish the aviation security management system.
Establish the threat evaluation and forecast system.
Improve the facilities and equipment security capabilities.
Enhance the air security force’s construction.
3. Enhance the Emergency Handling Capabilities
Establish the emergency working system.
Enhance emergency service capabilities.
Improve risk handling capabilities.
4. Improve the Airworthiness System’s Level
Speed up the construction for the airworthiness certification capabilities.
Enhance the layout and construction of maintenance capabilities.
Improve the aviation supplies integration security capabilities.