According to aviation regulations, airports with an annual passenger volume in excess of 30 million must maintain a punctuality rate above 50 percent. The punctuality rate at Pudong was an abysmal 38 percent last July.

However, Shanghai Pudong was not alone; airports in Beijing, Nanjing, and Xiamen received similar punishments for delays.

This isn’t the first time the CAAC has punished Pudong Airport for frequent delays, as it was also reprimanded last fall. According to the FlightStats website the average delay at Pudong Airport in August 2015 was 75.6 minutes.

Last summer, Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport was singled out for its poor punctuality rate by the CAAC, resulting in a loss of flights for the airport.

The CAAC has also punished specific airlines for frequent delays, including Sichuan Airlines, Tibet Airlines and Chongqing Airlines. The CAAC punished China Eastern for its excessive delays by cancelling two of its flights.

Numerous stories of passenger misbehavior at Chinese airports are the result of flight delays, often blamed on China’s military which controls much of the country’s airspace.

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Before take off, the pilot of flight CA4401 to Lhasa was instructed by air traffic control to turn 330 degrees to the left after takeoff. The pilot did not confirm the order on receiving it, and instead turned 330 degrees to the right once he was in the air.

The mistake was immediately recognized by the pilots and, after notifying the tower, changed direction and eventually resumed its proper flight path.

An unidentified employee of Air China Southwest confirmed the incident to Thepaper.cn.

This past May, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) punished five airlines for causing a number of near-misses due to “pilot error“.

In May 2015, Transaero flight UN8888 to Moscow lost its way after taking off from Beijing Airport, straying into the low airspace of residential areas. A netizen living near Huawei Bridge said they were woken up by the deafening sound of an airplane.

Just last week, a near-miss occurred at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport when two different planes, one taking off and the other landing, occupied the same runway.

The pilot of a China Eastern Airbus A320 performed an emergency liftoff as it barrelled down the runway towards a China Eastern A330, which was taxiing across the runway. The two jets were separated by 20 meters as the A320 flew over the A330. A preliminary investigation by the CAAC determined that errors made by the airport’s air traffic controllers were responsible for the near-miss.

China’s air traffic controllers have previously been under fire for speaking in Mandarin Chinese instead of the standard English, as well as falling asleep while on the job.

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Around noon on Tuesday, China Eastern flight MU5643 to Tianjin was in the process of taking off when another China Eastern flight that just landed began to cross the runway. The pilot of the plane taking off decided to go for it anyway, and managed to get off the ground before colliding with the plane on the runway.

A preliminary investigation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China has blamed the near miss on the airport’s air traffic controllers.

China’s ATC have been criticized a number of times over the years for speaking in Mandarin Chinese instead of the standardized English as well as falling asleep while on the job.

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The Civil Aviation Administration of China has fined the Shanghai Airport Authority 80,000 yuan ($11,963) after a stowaway was able to sneak on board a flight without getting detected until reaching his destination.

Xu Xiaojun, 16, sneaked into the cargo hold of Emirates flight EK303 on May 26. He was arrested once the flight landed nine hours later and was sent back to China.

Xu made headlines at the time by revealing he wanted to go to Dubai in order to make his fortune as a beggar.

In addition to the fine, Pudong Airport has been banned from applying for any new, extra or charter flights.

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Only 68 percent of all Chinese domestic flight departed on time last year, the report by thDelays averaged 21 minutes last year – two minutes more than the year before.e Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said this week. And the situation is just getting worse. Delays averaged 21 minutes last year – two minutes longer than the year before.

Air traffic control was cited as the biggest reason for causing flight delays at 31 percent, followed by poor weather (30 percent), and airline issues (19 percent). Another 21 percent of cases were due to unexplained “other reasons”.

Delayed flights are a serious problem for air travel in China. Despite the CAAC’s efforts in handing out punishments to airports that suffer from habitual delays, the continuing problem has instigated numerous cases of passenger outrage.

Delayed flights in China primarily stem from the fact that China’s airspace is not prioritized for commercial flights as it is tightly controlled by its military, even though it has become the second-largest market for commercial air travel in the world.

“The ultimate solution is to open more airspace to civil aviation,” said aviation industry observer Zeng Tao. “Other efforts made by air traffic management bureaus, airlines and airports have proved to have limited effects.”

Aviation industry analyst Lu Biao said that unless the government and military devote more airspace to commercial flights, it will be virtually impossible to stop flights from being late.  Lu said the current fix is to add more flights over pre-existing routes in order to meet rising consumer needs.

Last April, the CAAC announced the formation of ten new air routes over the next three to five years between first-tier cities Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. However, last year also saw the “worst ever” flight delays for Shanghai airports as poor weather caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights last June. Last year also saw the capital’s airport get shutdown during a military parade to commemorate the end of WWII.

Chinese airlines have been rated as some of the worst in the world. According to a survey by FlightStats, China’s airports and airlines have more flight delays than anywhere else.

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In a report issued by the CAAC, China Eastern Airlines, Okay Airways, and Xiamen Airlines were called out for errors resulting in near crashes. According to the report, “pilot error” was cited as the main cause of near-crashes. To address the issue, CAAC has vowed to dispatch senior pilots, engineers, and supervisors to the aforementioned Chinese airlines to carry out inspections and provide training.

Among the first to be punished were two China Eastern captains who had their pilot licenses revoked, and their first officer, who was suspended, after trying to obstruct a CAAC follow-up investigation. The pilots were attempting to land at Kanding Airport in poor weather when they collided with four rows of approach lights. The landing never happened because of the weather and the plane ended up returning to Chengdu airport 300km away.

Likewise, a captain and first officer with Xiamen Airlines were suspended when the tail of their airplane collided with the ground on April 12. And, just this past Tuesday, a flight with Beijing-based Okay Airways suffered a collision when its tail also hit the ground while landing in Nanning, Guangxi.

The CAAC said it would be equally vigilant in reprimanding foreign airline staff following two recent incidents. The front left wheel was found to be missing on an Oriental Thai Airlines flight on April 11, while an Emirates airbus landed in Beijing in January with a dangerously low amount of fuel.

Besides pilot suspensions, many of the offending airlines were punished by the CAAC by being banned from expanding further flights and airlines in China for a specific time.

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The massive infrastructure undertaking will not be cheap. To help cover the costs, China plans to invest upwards of 77 billion yuan ($11.7 billion) on civil aviation infrastructure this year alone. The investment will support eleven key infrastructure projects and 52 upgrades on civil aviation facilities, including work on new airports in Beijing, Chengdu, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Dalian.

Construction of Beijing’s second international airport is scheduled to be completed in June 2019. Work on the airport’s terminal and air traffic control facilities began last September, while construction of other support buildings is expected to start June of this year. Located to the south of the capital, Beijing New Airport will be the largest in the country. The airport will have seven runways and process some 72 million passengers a year.

Meanwhile, a new runway being built at the existing Beijing Airport, is anticipated to help accommodate an additional 8 million passengers a year.

Citing a rise in air travel that saw Chinese take 4 billion domestic trips and over 100 million international trips last year, the CAAC plans to not only increase the number of airports but also the number of domestic and international routes.

Xu Hongjun, a professor at the Civil Aviation University of China, admits that the expansion of airports in China is not good for everyone. “A lot of small airports are not doing well. They need a lot of subsidies from the central government. They were too optimistic,” said Xu. Perhaps the best example is the airport in Libo, Guizhou. Following the completion of construction in 2007 at a cost of $57 million, the airport made headlines after receiving only 151 passengers in all of 2009.

Compounding the problem is the fact that Chinese airlines have been rated as some of the worst in the world, and that Chinese passengers normally have to endure numerous flight delays when traveling in China. Domestically, Chinese airlines are also facing increased competition from the country’s high-speed rail network, which offers passengers a more affordable way to travel within China.

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Under the proposed regulations, all unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) would be required to register with the civil aviation authority and submit a flight plan before taking off, said Ke Yubao, Executive Secretary-General of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China (AOPA). Additionally, drones weighing between 25 and 150 kilograms would need to undergo an airworthiness certification before taking off.

“Currently, there are several CAAC regulations that govern the use of civilian drones, but most of them lack specific and practical rules,” Ke said. “The new regulations will set clear rules on which flights are legal and which are not permitted.”

China’s military had previously announced earlier this month that it would monitor civilian use of UAVs more strictly after several incidents involving drones shut down operations at several airports, having “threatened the safety” of Chinese aircraft. The new regulations would also forbid the use of drones in making home deliveries, as Alibaba had previously offered to its customers.

In August, China restricted the overseas sales of aerial drones out of fear such equipment could fall into the hands of militant groups after a Chinese-made UAV was shot down on the India-Pakistan border.

Of the 10,000 professional UAV operators working in the some 300 companies that use drones, the AOPA estimates that only 900 are properly licensed.

Drone pilot training is only offered at a few select places in China. In Shenzhen, classes at D-zooom Aerotech cost between 13,000 yuan ($2,042) and 23,000 yuan, and take between 20 and 30 days to complete. According to general manager Liu Yueping, the alternative is not worthy of any consideration.

“The majority of drone pilots are flying illegally right now,” said Liu. “They could face criminal charges once an accident happens.”

World-largest drone maker, DJI, is located in China, although most of its sales are in foreign markets. A recent industry report estimated that there were some 20,000 civilian drones being used in China, reports China Daily.

Chinese airspace is tightly controlled by the military, which has shut down all aviation activity for drills and military parades, as it did back on on September 3.

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According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), domestic airlines were punctual 82 percent of the time year, up 11 percent from last year. Moreover, airports improved by 11 percentage points to 83 percent.

According to the CAAC, China’s most punctual airlines are Air China, Shandong Airlines, and Sichuan Airlines.

In its push to make improvements across the country, the CAAC has punished Chinese airports for providing poor service to its passengers. Notably, CAAC will refuse to grant new routes or flights to offending airports.

This past July, the CAAC singled out Shenzhen Airport for having an excessive number of flight delays. In one incident in May, the delays were so bad that riot police were summoned to subdue angry passengers that smashed computers and threw food.

Although this is good news, the CAAC recently reported that the industry was getting worse with each passing year: before 2009, 80 percent of Chinese flights arrived on time, compared with only 68 percent in 2014. Industry observers cited bad weather and more passengers as the main causes of flight delays.

These findings are consistent with those of the Civil Aviation Data Analysis, which had published a report this past August that ranked China’s most timely airline at 80th spot out of 103 Asian peers.

Although reforms were announced last April that paved the way for more flight routes, China’s air space is still tightly regulated and controlled by its military.

In the summer of 2014, military exercises shut down the air space for much of China’s eastern coast, causing the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Time reported that on July 21, nearly 200 flights scheduled to takeoff from Shanghai’s two airports were cancelled, while another 120 were delayed by two or more hours.

This past September, Beijing’s airspace was a no-fly zone during the military parade held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of World War II, resulting in the shut down the capital’s airport for an entire morning.

Related:

• Enough with Flight Delays, Consumer Group Says Airlines Need to Compensate Passengers
• Smog Causing Flight Delays During Spring Festival Rush
• Finally! China Eastern To Offer WiFi On International Flights

The post China’s Airlines Are Actually Departing On Time More Often appeared first on The Nanfang.

The plane ended up striking objects on the ground outside Wuhan Airport, damaging the underbelly and forcing the plane into an emergency landing at Hefei Airport.

The botched landing attempt of the Boeing 737-800, which holds 164 passengers, took place on February 25. Rumours of the incident circulated on Weibo, but have only now been confirmed by China’s aviation regulator.

The results of a preliminary investigation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) revealed the captain of the Guangzhou-Wuhan flight disengaged the auto-pilot at 1,000 feet as the plane was descending. This led to the following sequence of events on-board flight CZ 3367:

– At 430 feet, both pilots were unable to spot the runaway approach lights. The first officer called for a ‘go-around’, meaning another landing attempt, but the instruction was ignored. The night-time landing was also hampered by the weather. The foggy conditions meant visibility was between 1,200 metres and 1,500 metres.

– Upon checking outside, the first officer discovered the plane was low, which triggered a “too-low” alarm in the cockpit.

– The co-pilot once again called for a ‘go-around’, which got no response. It took another “too-low” warning for action to be taken.

– As the plane accelerated upwards, the aircraft struck objects on the ground – scraping antenna beacons – forcing the aircraft to burn excess fuel as it headed to Hefei Airport in neighbouring Anhui province.

– The China Southern Airlines flight landed safely at Hefei Airport some 200 nautical miles away.

Simon Hradecky of the Aviation Herald has more on the damage done:

The CAAC reported that the aircraft sustained damage (penetrations and dents) to the left main gear door and left main gear proximity cover actuator, the left main gear outboard tyre received cuts.

The antennas of the southern NDB (non-directional beacon) “D” and inner marker were damaged, two other antenna pillars were damaged as well.

The CAAC annotated that the approach was continued below MDA (minimum decent altitude) without necessary visual reference putting the aircraft below the approach profile, in addition the crew did not initiate the go-around after the first ground proximity alert.

For an airline decorated with the Five-Star Flight Safety Award by the CAAC in 2008, this was an avoidable incident.

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