Abstract: Using the global principal components method and data of 23 provinces and cities from 2012 to 2015, this paper establishes the comprehensive index system to evaluate the civil aeronautics industry competitiveness in China. Three principal factors have been extracted to reflect industry scale, efficiency and innovation respectively. The following conclusions are drawn from the study. First, from a time point of view, although the aeronautic industry competitiveness has been improved as a whole, spatial development difference can be observed and keeps expanding. Eastern region accounts for the most competitiveness improvement during the research period. Second, from a space point of view, the provinces with high competitiveness haven't driven the development of surrounding provinces, which indicates the production model is relatively isolated and industrial clusters have not yet formed in the aeronautic industry. Last, among the three principal factors, the industry scale factor experiences the fastest increasing speed, and that the industry efficiency factor and the industry innovation factor increase comparatively slowly. Based on the above research, this paper presents some policy suggestions on aviation industry layout optimization and cross-regional collaborative development.