China's largest corporate aircraft operator Deer Jet opened an all-weather hangar for business jets Wednesday in Beijing, the first of its kind in the capital city.

Company sources said the move was aimed at improving Beijing's general aviation services and enhancing air safety.

Construction on the 45-million-yuan (US$6.96 million) hangar began in April 2009 and took six months, said Mou Jian, manager of the Deer Jet Beijing Corporate Aircraft Hangar.

He said the hangar passed acceptability tests administered by civil aviation authorities last September.

The 5,700-square-meter hangar can accommodate four Gulfstream G550 aircraft and two Gulfstream G200 aircraft. It is designed to provide ground services for 6,000 take-offs and landings annually.

"It will be China's biggest and best-equipped hangar for business jets," said Mou.

"The hangar provides us with the space we need to protect our clients' privacy and enable us to offer timely and adequate maintenance services," he said.

China has seen a growing demand for business jets, which provide a time-saving, efficient and flexible means of transport for business people. However, the country still lacks adequate ground facilities such as hangars, airstrips and parking garages.

Hangars for business jets have been built almost exclusively in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, according to Li Dong, an official with the General Aviation Administration of China.

In other cities, business jets are parked on airstrips belonging to civil aviation airports.

"To bolster the general aviation sector, we have had to build more hangars and train more people to provide adequate maintenance services," Li said.

Founded in 1995, Deer Jet Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-largest airline. It currently runs 39 business jets on more than 120 routes.

Zhang Zhi, the president of Deer Jet, said the company plans to build a second hangar for business jets at the end of 2012.