This year’s Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (Abace) has been a real eye-opener for a Westerner whose last visit to China was in 2003. Shanghai, where Abace 2012 is being held (it ends on March 29) at host airport Hongqiao International, is a beautiful and huge city. There is no convention center at the airport, but Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Service Centre, the airport’s fabulous FBO, is plenty big enough to accommodate Abace. The show is large enough to attract a good number of visitors from China and Asian countries and exhibitors serious about tackling this promising market. NBAA and its Asian counterpart, the Asian Business Aviation Association, as well as the Shanghai Airport Authority also deserve credit for putting on a first-class show.
Being in China for the Abace show has taught me a few things. The main lesson is that any company that is serious about China will have to figure out how to interact in Chinese. This means either learning the language or hiring people who are expert in Mandarin but also making a commitment to the marketplace. One example of this is websites. You cannot expect a potential Chinese customer to understand your company via your English-only website. Dassault Falcon spent a lot of money and effort developing a Chinese website and it has paid off with serious inquiries and potential sales from new Chinese customers who felt that Dassault really wants their business.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
