The dynamics of traveling to China have continued to change as business aviation traffic has grown there, requiring operators to plan further in advance. At the same time, they must remain flexible to evolving restrictions, say several trip support specialists interviewed for this article.

“Business aircraft travel to China has been increasing steadily over the past few years,” said Joyce Qin, UAS International Trip Support regional manager for China. “In recent years, and because of ongoing growth and development, the destination options have also been expanding. The Chinese government has been investing in airport infrastructure, and there are hugely ambitious projects ongoing. ”

But with the exponential growth, “it will be challenging to enhance airport infrastructure rapidly enough to cope with the demand that’s expected,” Qin said. “Airport slots will still be in huge demand, and therefore under huge pressures. Parking is a massive challenge–particularly in the main city airports.”

“They do their best to try to keep up with [traffic growth],” said Mike Stevens, tactical manager, international operations coordinator, ArincDirect for Rockwell Collins (Booth H333). But, he added, “China is a challenging region. They make a lot of regulation changes. There are a lot of restrictions in place at many airports.”

Chinese authorities have used various strategies to manage traffic at major airports, including: creating landing and departure windows; limiting the number of movements within a timeframe and within the country; limiting parking time; and adjusting schedule requests.

In the past year authorities have implemented restrictions on business aircraft operations at 21 airports serving cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Xiamen and Chengdu, among others. The restrictions prohibit business aircraft flights between 07:00 a.m. and 09:00 a.m. local time at these locations to accommodate the peak traffic times of commercial flights. “It plays a huge part in a lot of our flights because we have a lot of flights come in the morning,” Stevens said. “Flights have to deviate their schedules to either side of those hours.”

Other airports, including Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport (ZSSS) have additional nighttime restrictions. There are also restrictions on the number of movements permitted within a set timeframe at five airports–Beijing (ZBAA), Guangzhou (ZGGG), Shenzhen (ZGSZ) and both airports in Shanghai (ZSSS and ZSQD). Under these restrictions, business aircraft cannot arrive and depart (have two movements) between 09:00 a.m. to 22:00 p.m.

At the same time, at some locations, such as Beijing, the amount of available parking time for business aircraft can be limited to no more than 24 hours. Additionally, the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) allows a total of only five stops within China for international flights.

The permitting process has improved, the trip specialists said, but can still be challenging. “Even though the CAAC has reduced some documentation requirements this year, the approval procedures still remain very strict, especially with regard to short-notice requests,” Qin said.

Chinese authorities have eliminated sponsor letter requirements for most operations. But Stevens noted that his company still obtains sponsor information to ensure the smoothest possible handling process.

A full schedule, proof of business contacts and routing information are required to obtain a permit, according to Jimmy Young, who serves as country manager for Universal Aviation China (Booth H317). However, the CAAC does not require accompanying documentation.

Young advised that trips must be requested no more than four days prior to the estimated arrival–anything beyond that may be rejected by the online system. Landing-permit requests typically are approved within 24-48 hours of an operation.

Stevens warned the Chinese government will typically only allow two changes to a trip request. At the Shanghai airports, a missed slot could push back a departure time by several hours.

Permit approvals are easier for overflights, the specialists agreed. “Securing overflight permits is not difficult unless the request is made at extremely short notice or frequent changes are made to the itinerary,” Qin said.

Operators should be prepared for potential changes in their itinerary. Stevens noted that particularly when flying in certain directions, where traffic tends to be more concentrated, a landing or departure time or an altitude request might be amended to accommodate traffic. He added that he has had clients restricted to 30,000 feet or lower even though their aircraft were capable of much higher altitudes.

“They are doing their best to mitigate the challenges in traffic and keeping the airspace safe,” Stevens said. “We always have to be on the lookout for changes. They will change slot times on departures because there is only so much traffic they can handle. We’ve seen some delays.”

“Operators should ensure they have a comprehensive understanding of the local requirements for applications from either CAAC for permit approvals or from the individual airports concerning parking slots and any other special requirements,” Qin said. “Also, it’s important to try to stick to the initial schedule, because any change is often restricted and may result in the rejection of any new applications.”

The specialists further emphasized the importance of understanding visa requirements. Stevens recalled one case where a pilot arrived with an expired visa. He had to leave his aircraft behind and buy an airline ticket back to the U.S.

The trip support specialists also underscored the importance of having a presence onsite in China to ease the handling process and help overcome language and other potential barriers.

UAS (Booth H215), which saw its support activity in the Asia Pacific region increase 65 percent in 2014 alone, last year added three new station managers at airports in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou supplementing its Hong Kong regional headquarters and its office in Beijing.

Universal Aviation China also has experienced increases in its China operations. The company has an established team in China, and aircraft ground handling facilities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Like the other trip support specialists, Rockwell Collins ArincDirect (Booth H333) has seen an uptick in traffic, handling several flights daily in the Greater China region. Its support specialists greet arriving aircraft to help facilitate the customs process and address any other issues.