After recovering from a serious illness, Zhao Benshan was still busy. On the morning of December 8th, he would attend the opening ceremony of "Liu Laogen Big Stage" in Tianjin. However, just before the opening, a piece of news was revealed: Zhao Benshan spent nearly 2 billion yuan to purchase a personal dedicated passenger aircraft, which will be delivered to Liaoning at the end of the month.
The initial intention of Zhao Benshan buying the plane is actually to save money. A reporter learned from a Northeast colleague that Zhao Benshan recently spent nearly 2 billion yuan RMB to purchase a 17-seat small aircraft from Canada for future travel. Zhao Benshan has long had the idea of buying a plane. According to a staff member of Benshan Media, every time Zhao Benshan travels, he needs to book civil aviation tickets. Sometimes due to tight tickets, there have been multiple occurrences of being late or delaying activities; each time Zhao Benshan travels, he is accompanied by many people, and the annual ticket expenses of Benshan Media are astonishing; additionally, every time he takes a civil aviation flight, Zhao Benshan is often "chased" by passengers, making it impossible for him to rest. Therefore, Zhao Benshan has long planned to buy a plane.
It is reported that at the beginning of this year, Zhao Benshan contacted a Canadian airline company and specially customized a 17-seat small aircraft, with a total value of nearly 2 billion yuan RMB. Why is a 17-seat small aircraft so expensive? According to the reporter's investigation, although the aircraft purchased by Zhao Benshan can carry a limited number of passengers, it has all sorts of amenities including a bar, gym, and bedroom. "Teacher Zhao really likes this aircraft. He has already placed the aircraft model in his bedroom, and when he has nothing to do, he looks at it and frequently shows it off to everyone, eagerly awaiting its completion," according to the reporter's investigation. The aircraft is expected to arrive at Shenyang Taoxian Airport at the end of this month. Recently, when a journalist called Liu Liu, vice president of Benshan Media, he also confirmed this matter, "I heard Teacher Zhao mention this a while ago, but I didn't expect the aircraft to arrive so soon." When asked whether Zhao Benshan would hold a handover ceremony, the other party said, "Teacher Zhao is still relatively low-key, so it is unlikely."
A Chinese aviation expert consulted by the reporter yesterday stated that based on the analysis of the aircraft model, it is very likely to be the Canadian-made Bombardier Challenger series. This twin-engine jet aircraft is extremely fast, comfortable to ride, and belongs to the executive-level business aircraft, which is quite expensive.
Zhao Benshan plans to rent out the aircraft to cover costs, as informed by a Benshan Media staff member. "Teacher Zhao likes this aircraft very much, and at first, he might be reluctant to rent it out. However, he has plans to establish an airline in the future, and if someone wants to charter the aircraft, it will come in handy." Finally, after reviewing relevant laws and regulations of private airlines in China, we learned that if an individual wants to apply for a private airline, they must first get approval from the Civil Aviation Administration, then register with the industry and commerce bureau after obtaining approval. The minimum registered capital is 80 million yuan, and they must also apply for routes and time slots from air traffic control. In short, the process is quite complicated. Subsequently, Zhao Benshan's agent Gao Dawei told the media: "We did buy an aircraft, it will arrive at the end of the month, and it belongs to the group. In the future, we may use it to collaborate with other groups on projects."
Since the overall operating conditions of private airlines in China are currently not satisfactory, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has basically suspended applications for private airlines. Therefore, Zhao Benshan is likely to entrust the aircraft to an airline for management. If so, the annual management fee will reach tens of millions of yuan. Therefore, it seems most likely that Zhao Benshan will start an aircraft leasing company to cover costs.