Saddened by growing traffic jams in the metropolis of Beijing, resentful drivers and passengers cannot help but wonder: "How nice if I could fly."
Some may have their wishes come true in the near future, as experts have predicted that by the year 2010, there will be more than 2,000 helicopters for civil use in China. Many will be owned by private firms or individuals as well as police patrol helicopters and those for medical rescue and forest fire-fighting.
Seeing this vast market potential, all giant helicopter producers, including Robinson Co., AgustaWestland Co., Eurocopter,Sikorsky and Textron, have come to
Beijing for China's first International Exhibition of Police Equipment to seize the opportunity they have to promote themselves.
In a series of presentations which started recently, the small aircraft manufacturers spared no effort in introducing the safety, functions and value of their products, and never hesitated to pinpoint the weaknesses of their rivals.
Kurt Robinson, deputy-chairman of the Robinson Helicopter Co., said he was proud of the helicopters that originated from his father's living room for their dominant features of "simplicity and reliability."
"Precisely for these features, we take more than 60 percent of the North American helicopter civil aviation market," he said.
To show how good his products are, Robinson also brought with him police-uniformed Robert Muse, a director of the helicopter team of the Al Monte Police Department of Los Angeles, who has flown for 13 years and handled more than 10 types of helicopters.
"In the past five years, I have always used the (Robinson) R44 police helicopter on my missions, which is faster, steady and well-equipped, but with a price half that of other similar helicopters," Muse said.
Robinson Co. has sold 20 helicopters to China and trained a total of 1,000 Chinese pilots.
To a group of keen potential buyers who had just attended the Robinson presentation, the sales engineer for Agusta was quite straightforward.
"We don't produce toy helicopters," said Fulvio Maurogiovanni, sales director for Asia. The manufacturer who made Apache armed helicopters has police helicopters "ready for any weather conditions 24 hours a day, not just for times when the wind is mild," he added.
Maurogiovanni expects that sales in China of his products will hit 40 to 50 in the next five years and, through cooperation with relevant Chinese firms, Agusta will help turn China into an helicopter manufacturing base.
Christian Geandreau, Asia-Pacific regional sales manager for Eurocopter, would not disclose his sales plan, but queried, "Who can offer Chinese customers a wide range of 13 types of reliable aircraft like us?"
Geandreau just returned here recently from a trip to
Shenzhen where he signed a contract to build a maintenance center there, and a pilot training school was due to open by the end of this year, he said.
"We confide with the Chinese market not only because of China's huge market potential after its entry to the WTO, or its rapid economic growth, but for the sake of Chinese customers' preference for fashionable products," he said.
Tao Junsheng, deputy director of the Equipment and Finance Department under the Ministry of Public Security, predicted that Chinese police departments, with 11 helicopters to date, would buy another 20 or more in the next three years.
There are no specific demands from maritime navigation and forestry departments available, but the helicopter giants, which also include Boeing and domestic manufacturer of
Harbin and Changhe present here, seem very optimistic. Many interviewed said they expect that more than 2,000 civil aviation helicopters will be in use in China by 2010.
"The biggest problem for us today is that Chinese clients are not very clear about how helicopters can help them, which is why we are here to introduce our products to them and to make sure they buy the right products they need," said Geandreau from Eurocopter.
