中國的市場機遇令人興奮

“灣流”在自然界是世界上第一大海洋暖流，這股來自熱帶的暖流將北美洲以及西歐等原本冰冷的地區變成溫暖適合居住的地方，對該地區氣候產生重大影響。而當“灣流”出現在公務航空界時，則是頂級、豪華的代名詞，灣流在在公務航空界的影響力絲毫不遜于其在自然界的威力。

排隊甚至要等上兩年才能拿到飛機，但這并不妨礙中國客戶對灣流公務機趨之若鶩。亞洲尤其是中國已成為灣流最大的出口市場，2000年，在香港和中國內地服役的灣流飛機數量為零，而如今這一數字已增長到80余架，此外還有更多飛機即將投入使用。

灣流承諾向亞太和中國市場加大資源投入，而G280和G650兩款新機型的推出，更是為灣流的市場注入了新的活力?！端饺孙w機》為此專訪了灣流航空航天公司市場與銷售部高級副總裁Scott Neal。

《私人飛機》：您認為，灣流在國際公務航空市場一直能居于前列，其核心競爭力是什么？灣流如何將這些優勢在中國市場上發揚光大？

Scott Neal：灣流已經進入公務航空市場超過50年，并將全部核心力專注在該領域。我們致力于生產安全、舒適、可靠的高科技產品。同時，我們也提供頂級的產品支持服務，通過3500名員工的認真工作，確保所有產品都安全、可靠，并被很好地維護。

灣流建立起的品牌名譽是世界標準級別的，我們會將同樣級別的專注度和投入用在全世界任何地方的每一位客戶身上。另外，我們提供一系列廣泛的機型適用于不同的任務或需求，包括寬敞機艙、高速等性能，對灣流來說意義重大的代表產品G150和超遠程、超大機艙的G650。這些因素都使灣流成為中國這個新興公務機市場中客戶們的理想廠商，他們可以根據自己的不同需求任選機型。

《私人飛機》：目前中國客戶擬定購一架新的灣流大型公務機需要等上一到兩年時間，您如何看待這種現象？您如何評價中國客戶的購機消費心理和行為？

Scott Neal：我們完全理解客戶在購買公務機時通常都會需要考量并選擇一段時間，這在中國或北美地區都是一樣的。但是，北美地區有總數超過11000架的公務機，而整個亞太區的公務機數量不足1000，這就為該地區的增長留下了很多空間，同時也意味著中國的客戶們對于決定購買公務機會采取更謹慎小心的態度。我們非常樂意協助客戶們選擇適合他們的公務機，客戶滿意就是我們滿意。

《私人飛機》：您對中國公務航空市場的未來持何種觀點？您如何評價中國市場今后在灣流發展戰略中的地位？

Scott Neal：過去幾年間，中國公務機市場的運營環境已經有了一些改善，包括簡化飛行計劃的申請，增強公務航空的基礎建設和公務機運營公司數量的增加。另外，我們也見識到了有意購買公務機買主們的眼光變得越來越成熟，前來詢問公務機購買的人數也在增加。

我們對在中國市場看到的機遇感到非常興奮，自從灣流在中國內地賣出第一架大機艙公務機后，我們的飛機出現在該區域的頻率也在持續增加。如今，有80架灣流的飛機被來自中國內地的客戶們所使用，香港更有超過175架灣流飛機被用于整個亞太區的服務領域。

《私人飛機》：相比巴航工業、賽斯納等廠商競相與中國企業在公務機生產制造領域進行合作，灣流在這方面似乎不為所動，您認為未來灣流產品的競爭力和市場適應性能否與那些在華合資合作生產的公務機產品一較高下？

Scott Neal：我認為未來灣流產品的競爭力和市場適應性能足以與其他在華合資合作生產的公務機產品一較高下。灣流在過去幾年拓展中國市場的腳步上有著不錯的表現，我們在北京和香港分別有1～2處分部代表，近期還于香港開設了產品支持中心。今年年初，我們宣布將成立由灣流北京分部、金鹿商務航空、大新華航空共同運營的合資服務中心，這個建立在零部件倉庫旁的服務中心很快就要正式用于運營了。

同樣在今年年初，我們通過舉行香港G550/G450模擬飛行器的開幕儀式公布與飛行駕駛學校FlightSafety的合作。另外，我們也在增加灣流的市場支援活動，并通過招募精通中英文雙語的銷售人員來擴大銷售團隊。去年，我們在北京開設了銷售分點，在香港和新加坡也有2處我們的銷售站點。

《私人飛機》：我們知道，灣流公司目前正在實施一個總投資5億美元的擴建項目，并在增加人員配置以滿足市場需求，您認為客戶對新機交付在時間方面的迫切要求在什么時候會得到改觀？

Scott Neal：5億美元的擴建項目伴隨的是1000個工作崗位的承諾，大約需要7年的時間完成。不過我們已通過完成原裝設施配備的擴展將整個項目提前了幾年的時間。

《私人飛機》：灣流兩款新飛機G280和G650的認證工作目前進展如何？何時能正式投入商業運營？有消息稱G650現在已接到200架的訂單，其中有多少來自中國？

Scott Neal：G280和G650都已經取得資格認證，年底之前，購買這兩款機型的客戶有望拿到飛機。我們確實已有超過200架的G650訂單，這些訂單來自世界各地。

Gulf stream is the most powerful ocean current in nature. This warm ocean current is from tropical zone， and turns North America and West Europe where were supposed to be cold， into places that are warm enough for human to live. When Gulfstream appears in the business aviation market， it means top-level and luxurious. Gulfstream's force in business aviation industry isn't any less influential than it's in the nature.

You have to wait for more than 2 years to get the aircrafts once ordered， however， it doesn't affect Gulfstream becoming one of Chinese customers' favorite. In Asia， especially China， which already had become Gulfstream's largest export market. In 2000， there was zero Gulfstream aircrafts in mainland China or Hong Kong. Now the number has increased to 80， and with more to come.

Gulfstream promised that they would put more efforts and resources to Asia Pacific and China's market. The lauch of two brand new types of aircrafts， G280 and G650， are becoming the new power of Gulfstream. U-jet recently interviewed Scott Neal， Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Gulfstream， to hear Gulfstream's standpoints.

U-JET：In your opinion， what’s Gulfstream’s core competitive strength of being the top of global business aviation industry？ How would Gulfstream utilize its strength in China’s market？

Scott Neal：Gulfstream has been in the “business” of business aviation for more than 50 years. We’re focused solely on this sector and our ability to provide technologically advanced products that are safe， comfortable and reliable. We also provide top-quality product support， with more than 3，500 employees dedicated to ensuring our aircraft are safe， reliable and well-maintained. We’ve built a reputation of being The World Standard in business aviation. We bring that same focus and dedication to all of our customers， regardless of where they’re located.

Additionally， we offer an extensive range of aircraft that suit a wide variety of missions. These include the wide-cabin， high-speed Gulfstream G150 up to the flagship of our fleet， the ultra-long-range， ultra-large-cabin G650. This makes us the ideal company for customers in China， who are just now embracing business aviation. They can right-size their aircraft for their particular mission.

U-JET： It usually takes 1 to 2 years by waiting to receive aircrafts for an order from Chinese customer， what do you think of the phenomenon of Gulfstream being popular in China and how would you estimate consumers’ motives and acts？

Scott Neal：We understand that it takes time for customers to decide to purchase a business jet. The same holds true whether the customer is in China or North America. North America， however， has more than 11，000 business jets， while the Asia Pacific region has less than 1，000， leaving lots of room for growth. That also means that Chinese customers are likely more to deliberate a bit more before making the commitment to a business jet. And we are more than willing to assist them in making the decision regarding their aircraft. We want it to be a good fit for them.

U-JET：From your point of view what aspects would you hold for China’s business aviation industry？ How would you estimate China’s market in Gulfstream’s future development strategy？ Do you think there will be a short break for China’s business aviation market？

Scott Neal：There already have been a number of enhancements to the operating environment in China over the past several years， including streamlining the flight-planning process， growing the business-aviation infrastructure and increasing the number of management companies.

Additionally， we’ve seen the growing sophistication of prospective buyers and an increase in the number of prospects shopping for business aircraft.

We’re excited about the opportunities we see in China. Gulfstream’s presence in mainland China has grown rapidly since the company sold its first large-cabin aircraft there. Today， Gulfstream customers operate 80 aircraft in China and Hong Kong， with more than 175 Gulfstream aircraft in service throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

U-JET：Comparing to Embraer and Cessna， which now both have joint ventures in China and also shifted parts of their production line here， it seems like Gulfstream is insisting on doing the old ways. Do you think Gulfstream will perform well in the competition in terms of products and market adaptability？

Scott Neal：I do. Gulfstream has made a significant commitment to the Asia-Pacific region over the past several years. We have one field service representative in mainland China and two in Hong Kong， where we recently opened a Product Support office.

In early 2012， we announced Gulfstream Beijing， a joint service center operated by Gulfstream， Deer Jet and Grand China Aviation Technik. That facility， which is near an existing parts warehouse， should open shortly. Also earlier this year， we joined our training partner FlightSafety in inaugurating a full flight G550/G450 simulator in Hong Kong.

Additionally， we’re increasing our marketing support activities and expanding our employee base to include bilingual employees to support our sales activities. Late last year， we opened a sales office in Beijing. We also have sales offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

U-JET： We know that Gulfstream is now working on a $500 million expanding project and increasing staff at the same time to feed market demands， when do you think the handover date will be prompt as an improvement？

Scott Neal：The $500 million expansion， which included the promise of 1，000 additional jobs， is expected to take approximately seven years. However， we completed our original facilities expansion （announced in 2006） several years ahead of schedule.

U-JET： How far has it been progressed of identification for G280 and G650？ When will they be put in operation？ Rumor has it G650 has already been receiving 200 orders， how many of them are from Chinese customers？

Scott Neal：The G650 and G280 have both received their type certifications. Deliveries to customers are expected before the end of the year.

We do have more than 200 orders for the G650， with every region of the world represented in the backlog.