Airline Route is reporting services from Changchun, Dalian, Guangzhou, Harbin and Shenyang are being reduced, affecting flights to Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Niigata, Osaka Kansai, Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo Narita and Toyama.

Dalian is the worst hit, losing 14 flights.

The Centre for Aviation (CAPA) revealed one-way seat capacity between China and Japan has fallen to its lowest level since 2004. Capacity for October was down 9 per cent year-on-year.

Other plans to boost capacity have also been shelved, affecting the second daily Guangzhou-Osaka Kansai service.

The 174-seat Airbus A321 will continue to serve the route, replacing the 374-seat Boeing 777-200 for the time being, representing a near 110% cut in seat availability. CSA has also removed 120 seats from its daily Guangzhou-Tokyo Narita service, replacing its Airbus A330-200 with a Boeing 737-800.

Airspace reform urged
The Comprehensive Transport Institute is calling for reform of China’s airspace and expanding its use for civilian aviation.

The group is warning congestion will come to a head once Guangzhou’s new runway opens, combined with a third runway being considered in Hong Kong.

China Daily carry this self-evident line describing the situation:

The region’s sky has been so severely congested that the International Air Transport Association has said that the situation in the Pearl River Delta is one of the top three global air traffic control problems.

With more flights connecting six PRD airports (Foshan, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Zhuhai) to the rest of Asia and the world, experts are questioning how much more the region can take with such little approved airspace available.

Passenger improvements for Baiyun Airport
Life of Guangzhou is reporting airport management at Baiyun Airport will invest RMB4 million into passenger improvements at Baiyun Airport.

Some ideas include a smartphone app for better on-the-move information in the hands of passengers.

Mainland and Hong Kong give conflicting accounts of rescue operation
China’s central government ordered Guangdong Province to send four salvage vessels to help after the Lamma Island ferry collision that killed 38 on the night of Oct. 1, according to CCTV.

However, accounts differ as to what extent mainland China contributed to the rescue operation.

At approximately 20:20, the Sea Smooth, a vessel that was taking power plant workers and their families to see a firework display, crashed into the Lamma IV on the port side. 38 people perished.

Hong Kong authorities were vexed by a claim made by China News Service that ships from the mainland helped rescue 95 people, saying that the ships were never used, according to Global Post.

Hong Kong Satellite TV slammed the agency for lacking “basic professionalism.” It seems that relations between Hong Kong and the Mainland are only going one way.

Fight over iPad causes miscarriage
A couple attacked a woman, causing her to have a miscarriage, after claiming to have lost their iPad in their store, according to Shanghaiist.

After the couple exited a toiletry shop owned by the woman, Miss Liu, around 3 p.m. October 2, they noticed their white iPad was missing. After a frantic search they took their anger out on Liu, including giving her a kick to the stomach.

It was later decided that a medically induced miscarriage was necessary and the couple was detained.

This proves once and for all that Apple products don’t so much have owners as host bodies.

Foshan Airport opens up four new journeys
Foshan Airport will open up new routes to Chongqing, Xi’an, Shantou and Zhanjiang, as well as an extra journey to Beijing starting Oct. 10, according to Nanfang Daily.

The planes used will be Boeing 737-800 and will have 163 seats.

Tickets to Chongqing will cost 1180 yuan, tickets to Xi’an will cost 1490 yuan, tickets to Kanjiang will cost 1070 yuan and tickets to Shantou will cost 970 yuan, according to the paper. The relative competitiveness of the prices may be down to the new railway lines we told you about.

Despite higher ticket prices, airlines do have one obvious advantage over high speed rail. The flights to Beijing Nanyuan will take 2 hours 30 mins, to Kanjiang will take 1 hour, to Shantou will take 1 hour, to Chongqing will take 2 hours 20 mins, and to Xi’an will take 2 hours 35 mins, according to the airport.

Unmarried woman sells her son for 50,000 RMB
A 21 year-old woman named Xiao Juan has sold her son for 50,000 RMB in Guangzhou, according to Nanfang Daily.

Xiao Juan, who is originally from Guangxi, was struggling financially after living in Guangzhou for four years. She decided to sell her son, who was born out of wedlock this year. After selling the baby to a couple in Foshan’s Xiqiao Subdistrict, the couple went missing before paying the whole sum.

Xiao Juan reported the couple to police on Sept. 24, and three were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. Xiao Juan will also face charges. This all reminds one of the phrase, “there are no heroes, only different shades of villain.”

Chinese-language contest for expats
Shenzhen Daily will host the third annual Shenzhen Expats Chinese Talent Competition in November. Applicants must be expats who live in the PRD and be at least 6 years old.

The competition, expected to be held at Shenzhen’s Futian Shangri-la, consists of two parts. The first part will involve a five-minute speech on a given topic, and the second part will involve a performance such as a Chinese song, poetry recital or stand-up comedy.

If you think you can mix it with the best, then apply before Oct. 26. You can print off a copy of the application form here.

Family of three drops to death from 12th-story window
A family of three fell to its death in Guangzhou on Sept. 27, a story found by The Nanfang’s Katei Wang here.

The corpses of the couple, 57 and 58 years old, and their daughter, 22, were found on the third floor of the Zhonghai Lanwan residential community in the city’s Panyu District the following day.

It was later discovered that the family was in considerable debt and this may have driven them to suicide.