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Storms add to problems at airports
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THUNDERSTORMS last night added to the woes of Shanghai’s two airports, already experiencing flight delays due to air traffic restrictions because of upcoming military maneuvers.
The Civil Aviation Administration issued an orange alert for widespread flight delays, the Shanghai Airport Authority said yesterday.
The regulator’s air traffic management bureau said capacity at Hongqiao International Airport would drop 63 percent from 3:15pm to 6pm yesterday and that for Pudong International Airport would drop by 50 percent from 4pm to 7pm.
By last night, 92 flights due to fly from Hongqiao yesterday had been cancelled and another 180 delayed, while at Pudong, 24 flights were cancelled and 76 delayed.
China Eastern Airlines cancelled 18 flights from Shanghai to northern cities Beijing and Tianjin and southern cities Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
China Southern Airlines cancelled three flights from Shanghai to Shenzhen and Guangzhou while Juneyao Airlines cancelled two flights from Shanghai and four bound for Shanghai. China Southern Airlines said that flights from Shanghai to Xiamen, Fuzhou, Taiwan and some central and southern regions were also likely to be affected.
The regulator said its alert would remain in force in Shanghai today where traffic is expected to be down by 36 percent while neighboring Hangzhou City is also expected to see flight delays.
It issued the alert on Saturday, noting that at least 23 airports would be affected by cancellations and delays, including those in Shanghai, Nanjing, Nanchang, Hefei, Zhengzhou and Wenzhou.
By 7pm on Saturday, 137 flights had been cancelled and 271 delayed at the Hongqiao airport while 75 were cancelled and other 304 delayed at Pudong.
The aviation administration said that “rainstorms, routine military exercises and other comprehensive factors” were behind the flight delays and cancellations.
The Ministry of National Defense said yesterday that upcoming military exercises, which it described as “routine,” would have a “limited influence” on civil aviation, and that weather was the major cause of disruptions.
However, it has sent several teams to airports affected by delays to help with coordination. Military aviation authorities have also set up temporary routes and protected airspace for civil flights to “minimize the influence.”
China is due to conduct a military exercise off its southeast coastal areas from tomorrow, Xinhua news agency reported.
It is part of the Chinese army’s routine training, the defense ministry said.
The drill will test combat capability and improve training and military preparation, the ministry said in a statement.
Both military and civil aviation management authorities have taken measures to minimize the exercise’s impact on civil flights, Xinhua said.
Military exercises only have a limited impact on civil aviation, the defense ministry statement said, adding that they were not the major factor behind recent flight delays, which were mainly the result of meteorological conditions. Measures have been taken to cut the influence of military activity on civil aviation in recent years and will continue to be taken, the statement said.
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