U.S.-based FBO chain Million Air entered the third year of its joint-venture with CJet this year, managing the lone FBO at Beijing Capital International Airport, the world’s second busiest in terms of number of passengers. The private aviation business there has been good, with traffic increasing over the past year, according to John Bridi, the company’s vice president for international operations. The facility, which is open 24/7 with a staff of 180, handles 60 percent of all business aviation traffic within mainland China, with all general aviation passengers and crew processed through the 20,000-sq-ft terminal, which contains CIQ and security services as well as private hosted VIP lounges and concierge.
Bridi noted that in terms of GA parking stands at the airport, nearly all 50 spots are regularly occupied during weekdays, with traffic slowing slightly on the weekend. Domestic flights account for 60 percent of the operations, with U.S. and European flights making up the largest portions of the international activity.
With such activity, Bridi and his company are looking forward to the opening of Beijing’s second airport, Daxing International. When completed in September 2019, south of the capital, it will be the world’s largest international airport. CJet is a subsidiary of the Beijing airport authority, and its joint venture with Million Air will also operate the only FBO facility at Daxing. Planned for construction is a 7,430-sq-m (80,000-sq-ft) terminal which, like the facility at Beijing Capital, will house CIQ and security, along with private lounges and all the necessary passenger and crew services.
Aside from the massive size of the new business aviation terminal at Daxing, another difference between the two locations is in available hangars. The Beijing Capital FBO does not have any dedicated general aviation hangars, so customers wishing to shelter their aircraft overnight must enlist the FBO staff to place calls to the various maintenance operators on the field to inquire about overnight availability. At Daxing, authorities plan to remedy this with more than 74,000 sq m (800,000 sq ft) of hangar space, able to accommodate BBJ/ACJ-class aircraft, specifically for transient aircraft and maintenance activities.
Another difference is in the ramp space. At Beijing Capital, private aircraft parking is currently spread among five different ramps, according to Bridi. “Everything is a little disconnected,” he told AIN. “At the new airport, all the aircraft parking for general aviation will all be in one location, very similar to what we are used to in the U.S." Indeed, plans for the new airport have more than 100,000 sq m (25 acres) reserved specifically for business aviation.
Bridi believes those factors, which are being designed into the new airport, along with less congestion, will make it a better fit for business aviation.
“With all the FBO services and parking centralized in one area, we think it should really make for a better experience, for both the domestic and international customer,” he said.
With more than two years of experience in China now, Million Air Beijing has found a need among its customers for flight-planning packages, similar to those provided by the trip-support companies. “In the U.S. market, that’s typically not something that the FBO gets involved in, so it’s kind of a new direction, a new branch that we’re learning more about,” said Bridi.
To demonstrate how a U.S. FBO functions, last September 30 staff members from the Beijing facility were brought to Million Air’s flagship Houston, Texas location, where they worked alongside their U.S. counterparts. “They got to see all sides of it,” Bridi explained. “We had them fuel some aircraft, we had them tow some aircraft, we had them make various concierge reservations. We were bridging the gap of what they’re used to doing and what the North American customer is used to seeing. That way they can take that back to Beijing and implement it.”