China will require over 18,000 new pilots by the year 2015 to support the nation's rapid growth of air travel, which means the annual demand for qualified pilots will reach 2,500 to 3,000 over the period, according to the China Airline Pilots Training Summit 2011 held on November 1 to 3 in Shanghai.

Currently, China has 2,521 private jet pilots in total - 2,458 males and 63 females, while the figure for commercial jet pilots is 12,845, including 12,751 males and 94 females. However, the personnel are far from enough to meet the market demand.

More Than 15,000 General Aviation Pilots Needed

The general aviation sector has a huge space for development in China. The training for corporate flying, commercial flying, as well as air tour and private pilot license is becoming increasingly popular in the country, Doctor Gao Yuanyang, a professor with Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics told reporters.

China's air travel market sees a strong growth and has become the second largest in the world; however, general aviation pilots training fails to keep pace with the overall development due to shortage of training aircraft, airports and flight instructors.

The total number of general aviation pilots in the U.S. is approximate 597,000, while the figure in China is no more than 4,000. It is predicted that China will require15,000 general aviation pilots for the coming decade. At present, it is a common practice for general aviation entities to poach pilots from commercial airlines.

Only 2,000 Pilots Supplied Each Year

Currently, the number of pilots graduated from China's seven Pilot Training Institutions is only around 2,000 every year. Flight technical personnel have been ranked the top on the "Urgently Needed Personnel" list published by Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

In the next two decades, Chinese airlines are expected to take delivery of about 4,700 new aircraft. However, the current personnel are far from enough. Airlines are now speeding their personnel training by recruiting pilots independently to cope with serious shortage of pilots.