Beijing, Aug 3 (IANS) Nearly 200 planes in China are owned by billionaires even though the country’s low-altitude airspace is banned for private flying, a media report said Tuesday.
Low-altitude flying is under strict control of the Civil Aviation Administration and the Air Force, and any operation of such aircraft needs approval from government.
But the complexity of the approval process for every single flight motivates the billionaires to deliberately violate regulations and then pay a fine that is pale in comparison with their wealth, China Daily reported citing local newspaper Guangzhou Daily.
‘I have already owned my planes, what shall I do then?’ said Xu Weijie, owner of 11 privates planes. ‘China’s laws only regulate public planes and military planes, and there are no specific rules regarding private planes,’ Xu said.
Xu was caught flying illegally above his hometown in Wenzhou of east China’s Zhejiang province April 23 this year. His plane was taken over by local civil aviation administration and he was fined 29,000 yuan ($4,300).
The report said there were two kinds of private plane owners: those who report to the aviation departments each time before flying and those who don’t report and fly illegally.
