Shanghai FBO Sees Traffic Spike in October

Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Centre (SHPBAC) has just logged its busiest month of activity in October according to the company, which is the host of NBAA’s annual Asian Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (ABACE). The FBO, located at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport, logged 347 movements during the month, the most since it began operations in 2010. So far this year, movements are up 16 percent over 2014 with year-over year improvements each month thus far.

While aircraft sales in the country have cooled in the wake of government-enacted anti-extravagance laws, flight activity has remained solid. “Shanghai continues to be the center for business in China and both the Asian and international business communities keep flying despite whatever the daily economic news or drama,” said Carey Matthews, the company’s general manager. “The numbers verify that business aviation is taking a deep root into the economic environment of China and is being more robust than many are giving it credit for.”

The company also announced it has received approval from the Chinese government to conduct maintenance on Gulfstream G450 and G550 models. “Gulfstream aircraft are a significant percentage of the Asian-based business community,” said Dr. Lu Xin, Shanghai Hawker Pacific’s deputy general manager. “Shanghai is one of the primary destinations for those aircraft, and we felt that having this maintenance capability here in Shanghai was critical to continuing to foster the development of business aviation in the region.”

The company’s maintenance, repair and overhaul operation was the first for business aviation in China when it opened in 2011.