China suffering shortage of civil aviation specialists

China suffering shortage of civil aviation specialists

BEIJING (AFX) – China will need to employ at least 240,000 civil aviation specialists over the next two decades, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing an industry expert.

‘China’s civil aviation business will suffer a shortage in specialists for quite a long time in the future,’ said Du Yefu, an expert from the Civil Aviation University of China, according to Xinhua.

China aims by 2020 to have a civil aviation market that is on a par with that of the US now, but there is currently a large gap between the two nations, the news agency said, citing Du.

Less than 200,000 people work for aviation companies in China compared with over 700,000 in the US, Xinhua said.

The average ratio between staff members and aircraft in international air companies is 100 to one, whereas in China it is 200 to one, the news agency added.

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/03/27/afx2625840.html