时间：2022-09-01 12:37:12
You might consider launching an online store to sell clothes, cosmetics and food. But have you thought of selling aircraft online?
The first Internet airplane deal was successfully completed by several young men.
Dai Yunong, 28, and his colleagues sold a 2?million?yuan second?hand Robinson R22 to a Chinese individual on their website, .
The Robinson R22, a small American two?seater plane, is currently one of the most popular light helicopters in the world.
The sellers are not millionaires, but college graduates.
“We hope we can be the Alibaba of general aviation in the future,” said Dai, 28, who graduated from Zhejiang Vocational Academy of Art.
Dai, who studied oil painting at college, decided to launch a private airplane electronic commerce platform with several friends at the end of 2010.
That year, Dai, a former IT company employee, read the news about the government’s approval of plans to open part of low?altitude airspace to the general aviation industry.
According to Dai, experts said it might unleash pent?up demand for private air services and create a market worth more than one trillion yuan.
“I felt excited about it and thought that it meant an opportunity,” he said.
He and his partners spent five months assessing the market and consulting experts.
They then raised 500,000 yuan together to launch a company.
“I could hardly find any information in Chinese about private airplanes at that time, so we had to translate foreign information,” he continued.
Now the team works in a 30?square?meter office in Hangzhou, with about ten staff. People considered it media?hype to sell aircraft online, but they say they act as agents.
“We’ve released a lot of information about private planes. If the potential buyers are interested they can contact us, and we’ll find a suitable one for them,” said Dai.
In June, they got a phone call from someone who wanted to buy a helicopter for fun.
They found a Robinson R22 in Changsha, which was bought with 2.8 million yuan from Thailand five years ago.
They invited the customer to see it and let him have a test flight. He was satisfied and closed the deal in two weeks.
Dai and his colleagues worried about how to transport the helicopter to the buyer.
They rented a hovercraft to move the helicopter. They removed the propeller blades. Maintenance staff escorted the hovercraft all the way for 30 hours.
“We learned a lot from the first deal, including how to negotiate, how to read the maintenance record and how to transport it safely,” said Dai.
Not anyone can buy or sell aircraft. According to Dai, the government has strict rules: the airplane for sale must have certification and flight log.
The return on the sale“was nearly the same as commission from a deal on an apartment,” said Dai.
“The key profit lies in our after?sales service.”
According to Dai, the yearly maintenance of an airplane is about ten to 20 percent of its total price. So the maintenance and repair cost of a two?million?yuan airplane will reach 400,000 per year.
“We plan to provide other services, including aircraft rent and a free online test system for pilots’ licenses,” he said.