FLORIDA: China is preparing for a massive boom in airport construction over the next several years as it plans to build some 100 new airports by 2015. This could prove to be a significant boost for Florida's aviation sector, which is already taking advantage of this unprecedented growth.

Construction workers walk through the Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport. File photo

"If you step back and consider that less than 1 percent of the current Chinese population flies on the airlines. A 0.5 percent increase of Chinese specific passenger growth can more than max out the current system," said Steven Daun, vice-president of sales and marketing for Miami-based Aeroservice Aviation, an aviation training company.

To make sure that the system doesn't become over-taxed, Chinese aviation officials have increased partnerships with Florida's leading aviation firms and schools to help them build world-class airport facilities, as well as to train workers.

"They are looking for assistance from the global community," said Daun, who added that some 7,000 aircraft are needed over the next 10 years, in addition to 30,000 pilots over the next five years. "Everywhere you look, all of the opportunities reviewed are massive. South Florida is part of that because of the amount of aviation support that we can provide."

On a recent trip to China, Daun said he saw opportunities that ran the gamut from aircraft and passenger handling, to opening gift shops, restaurants, and communications and sanitary needs.

One of the reasons China has turned to Florida for help is because the growth and expansion of South Florida's international and smaller airports sets a good model, points out Dan Sullivan, president of The Greater Miami Aviation Association.

Miami International Airport processed some 2.076 million tons of airfreight in 2007, of which 85.5 percent was international cargo, according to the Jay Malina International Trade Consortium, a trade agency of Miami Dade county. Miami International ranked first among US airports for international freight volumes for 2007, and 8th among world airports in the same year.

Miami's airport is investing some $6.2 billion under a capital improvements program to maintain its advantage over the rest of the country in holding on to nearly 81 percent of all air imports and 77 percent of all air exports for Latin America and the Caribbean, said Cari Cossio, president of the Florida Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association.

Miami's ability to expand and sustain its airport growth has made the state's aviation schools attractive to Chinese officials. Since March, Miami Dade College has been training air traffic controllers from Shenzhen for a six-week program funded by the Chinese government. Since October 2008, controllers from Shanghai have come for two-week training sessions.

The Civil Aviation Authority of China approached the college back in October 2007 about preparing controllers at Shenzhen Airport for a safe transition from a one-runway operation to a parallel runway operation by 2010, according to Victor Fernandez, the professor of Aviation at Miami Dade College who facilitates the program.

"The Shenzhen Airport Authority is constructing a new parallel runway and the controllers are here to practice real life simulations of Shenzhen's future air traffic flow," said Fernandez. "The course includes classroom training, simulator training, and visits to Miami Tower and Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center."

The college issues a certificate of course completion to the controllers, recognized by Chinese aviation authorities, to permit them to carry out further training in China.

"Our program was probably chosen because of content, faculty experience and affordability," Fernandez said. "[The Chinese] may want some cultural gains out of this, as well as our perspective towards air traffic in this country."

Since 2007, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, has conducted a two-week training program for mid-level managers from the Chinese Aviation Authority. The school pays for part of the program, while the Chinese government funds the balance, said Mark Friend, chairman of the Applied Aviation Sciences Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

By October, the school hopes to finalize a master's degree program in business administration in aviation through a partnership with Boeing and China's Civil Aviation Management Institution. The university's Singapore campus will facilitate the new program. Friend said that there was clearly a need for advanced training for China's aviation sector.

"China lacks the general aviation capabilities we have here in the US simply because private citizens don't typically own and operate aircrafts like we do here," Friend said. "As a result, they don't have the radar, infrastructure and expertise readily in place to move airports from point A to B."

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