Aviation conference scheduled

A Chino-based company will host a conference next month that will introduce U.S. aviation companies to Chinese businesses, investors and government officials.

The inaugural U.S. China General Aviation Business Conference will be held March 25 – 31, said Paul T. Glessner, chief engineering officer for Threshold Aviation Group.

The event is a response to the Chinese government’s relaxation of its longtime restrictions on commercial airplane flights. That move has helped open China to the international aviation market, Glessner said.

“A lot of the aviation industry is new to them,” Glessner said of the Chinese delegation that will attend the weeklong event. “They’re coming over here to learn how things operate.”

The conference will be highlighted by a gathering March 27 at the Embassy Suites in Brea and an aviation exposition the following day at Chino Airport, where Threshold Aviation is located.

The Brea session will provide an overview of the the U.S aviation industry and the changes to aviation regulations made by the Chinese government, most of which began last year. The airport session, which will be held at Hangar 3, will give the Chinese delegation a chance to inspect, and possibly purchase, U.S. aviation equipment.

“They’ll get to decide whether they want to buy something like a fuel tank or a runway lighting system,” Glessner said.

About 500 people are expected to attend each of those sessions, Glessner said.

The Chinese delegation will spend the rest of the week visiting different aviation landmarks and events in Southern California, including the annual Los Angeles County Air Show in Lancaster.

The conference figures to be a major event for Chinese aviation, according to one member of that delegation.

“This is a first opportunity for U.S. based companies to meet the people in China who are responsible, to a great extent, for growing the aviation business in China,” said Dr. Yuanyang Gao, Director, General Aviation Industry Research Center, Beijing University of Aeronautics, in a statement. “[It] represents an opportunity for U.S. companies to share their expertise in an area that is new to China – general aviation.”

Threshold Aviation is a leading provider of business jet management, operations and maintenance to aircraft owners throughout the world. Its fleet includes Gulfstream 550s, GIVs and Challenger Aircraft, according to the statement.

For more information on the conference please visit FlyTTI.com and click on the business conference link.