Can China tackle its terrible flight delays?

By Ella Wong, August 5, 2015

In the same week that China announced it would close the country’s busiest airport in order to hold an epic military parade marking victory over Japan in the Second World War, the nation’s aviation authority has signaled it wants to get tough on flight delays by punishing airports and airlines.

Last year, Chinese airports posted their worst ever punctuality rates with just 68 percent of flights departing or arriving on time, according to the Civil Aviation Administration. The airport regulator is now trying to reduce flight delays by making an example of Shenzhen’s airport – the nation’s fifth busiest – which will not be granted any new flights, routes or charters this year.

The South China Morning Post reports:

“As flight on-time rates dropped to a decade-low, the Civil Aviation Administration slapped unprecedented penalties on Shenzhen Baoan International Airport for its mishandling of large-scale flight delays over the past months that triggered several incidents with ‘significant social impact.’”

One of those incidents involved a near riot in May when delayed passengers threw food and other objects at ground staff.

Also in the dog house are China United Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines, the carrier that recently saw a passenger light a fire on board one of its aircraft .

Given that the military controls 70-80 percent of China’s airspace, however, it’s not clear how the Civil Aviation Administration’s penalties will improve the country’s notorious flight delays.

"The regulator is punishing whom it can. Whatever falls outside its power, there is nothing it can do,” Guangzhou Civil Aviation College professor Qi Qi told the SCMP.

Certainly not helping matters is this week’s decision to close Beijing’s two airports on the morning of September 3 – that will affect 269 flights scheduled during the three-hour closure, a fifth of which are international flights.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific is reportedly planning to cancel some of its flights to and from the Mainland due to the knock-on effects of widespread delays.