At Guangzhou Suilian helicopter pilot school, business is busier than ever, with its six trainers booked solid almost every day.
“Learning to fly a helicopter is becoming a new hobby in China as rich people are getting tired of golf and cars,” says Guan Xiwen, general manger of the school in Guangzhou. “We have to turn down students sometimes.”
This new-found interest is fuelling a burgeoning helicopter market in the world’s most populous nation. While the number of crafts sold globally increased just 7 per cent in 2008 and 5.7 per cent in 2009, China’s fleet grew by more than a quarter from 108 in 2008 to 137 this year, according to Frost & Sullivan, the consultancy. Zhang Yue, the tycoon who controls Broad Air Conditioning, pioneered the trend by securing the country’s first private helicopter pilot’s licence in 1997.