Proposal to reform management of nation’s airspace comes amid chronic delays, particularly at airports in Beijing and the Peal River Delta
China plans to open more airspace for civil flights in a bid to ease the nation’s notorious flight delays. While the civil aviation industry is growing rapidly, 80 per cent of mainland China’s skies are controlled by the military, which gives priority to its own traffic. Nine out of 10 of the world’s worst large airports in terms of punctuality in April were Chinese, according to global flight data service FlightStats. The mainland government has realised the problem and a new “airspace management system” will be released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in the next week or so, according to Cai Jun, deputy director of the bureau’s Air Traffic Control Commission. The plan would “integrate management of civil and military aviation” and broaden flight corridors in key traffic hubs, including Beijing, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, Cai told a forum in Beijing on Thursday. “We understand that reforming the management of the airspace … is an essential need, ” said Cai, whose commission is overseen by the State Council and the Central Military Commission.
