SHANGHAI - "We'll do whatever you want, as long as it's within the realm of certification," said Sean Gillespie, executive vice president for sales of Flying Colours, a North American aviation services firm.
"But carbon fibre, we've used it before, but usually it's used as a trim." The market for private jets - sometimes called business or executive jets - is a small but fast growing aviation segment in China, where rapid economic development has created a surge of new wealth.
The first US Gulfstreams only arrived in the country in 2003 but a decade later there were 248 business jets in China, a 28 percent leap on 2012's figure, according to consultancy Asian Sky Group.
Customers include Jack Ma of e-commerce giant Alibaba, in the process of a multi-billion dollar share offer in the United States, and Wang Jianlin of Wanda Group, which bought the US cinema chain AMC.
"Buyers can be in their 20s, in their 70s. They can be in real estate, investment, oil and gas. They are from all over China," said Jason Liao, head of consultancy China Business Aviation Group.
"There is no typical Chinese buyer," he said. One thing they have in common: tens of millions of dollars available to buy their own planes. European firm Airbus has just started offering an $80 million budget version of its corporate jet in China, with a pre-designed cabin instead of a fully-customised one.
They can be swayed by the little details. So Gulfstream has a place for a rice cooker on board, Brazil's Embraer can sync an iPad to adjust lights and climate control and Airbus offers a round table for playing mah-jong. - AFP
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