A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

NetJets China and Business Aviation Asia (BAA) yesterday announced a strategic equity partnership that will see BAA, a China Minsheng Investment subsidiary, join Hony Jinsi Investment Capital and Fung Investments as shareholders with NetJets in the joint venture. The deal, subject to approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the CAAC, would see BAA acquire a 25-percent stake and make it the second-largest investor in NetJets China, as U.S.-based NetJets confirmed that it will still maintain its 49-percent share in the company.

 


“BAA is one of the biggest business jet managers and operators in Asia Pacific, with well established operations in the China region,” said Eric Wong, vice chairman and general manager of NetJets China (Booth P722). “I trust the strategic partnership between NetJets and BAA will bring about significant benefits to the development of business jet aviation services in China and the surrounding region. With their experience in China, we believe that our joint venture will be able to operate efficiently, safely and be able to provide a very high standard of service to the local market as well as to the customers in the region.”

 


Wong noted that business aviation is gaining more momentum in China with the expansion of the population of high-net-worth individuals in the country. Combined with efforts such as better regulation of flight plans and the opening up of the airspace, this bodes well for the industry.

 


“All these trends make us even more confident in the market potential of business aviation, not just in China but also in the Asia Pacific region,” said Wong. “That’s why we have been expanding our fleet and recruiting more members–to provide even better and more diversified business aviation service to our Chinese clients.”

 


Shenzhen-based BAA has been in operation since 2006, and in addition to Chinese authorization also holds Cayman Islands approval, through its subsidiaries in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands respectively.

 


“Currently, BAA boasts a fleet of 56 aircraft with a staff of 500 people,” said David Du, BAA’s deputy general manager. “In our fleet you are going to discover models of all the mainstream aircraft makers and we have set up 12 operational bases in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It is fair to say that BAA is fully ready to grow bigger and stronger.”

 


Once the transaction is approved, BAA general manager Chang Qiu Sheng noted the company intends to expand its aircraft management business while at the same time launching a membership card program.

 


NetJets is the world’s biggest private jet operator, with a fleet of more than 700 aircraft. Zhuhai-based NetJets China was formed in 2012 and was authorized to begin business aviation and jet charter services in China in 2014. NetJets China currently has a fleet of three aircraft–two Hawker 800XPs based in Guangzhou, and a Bombardier Global 5000 based in Hong Kong.

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