<br>Air force can help combat crowded skies, experts say (3)

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Air force can help combat crowded skies, experts say (3)

By Zhao Lei (China Daily) 10:28, August 07, 2013

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No improvement

The on-time records of Chinese air carriers have remained unsatisfactory over the past three years, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

In 2010, 74.9 percent of Chinese flights departed on time. The figure was 77.2 percent in 2011.

However, no improvement was achieved in 2012 — only 74.8 percent of flights took off on time.

Professor Li said the ultimate reason behind China's serious delays is that, "No one really treats passengers' interests as a top concern and they (airlines, civil aviation departments and the air force) are only concerned about their own interests."

For example, he said, government and military authorities should understand airspace and utilize it to its potential, rather than merely control it.

"The civil aviation departments, airlines and military authorities should sit down to discuss how to properly use airspace to benefit the public," Li suggested.

In response to claims that the air force's control on airspace contributes most to flight delays, airspace authorities were quoted by China News Service on July 27 as saying nearly 34 percent of Chinese airspace is regularly used by airlines, around 25 percent by the military and the other 41 percent is unused.

A host of complications contribute to delays, officials said, explaining that 43.1 percent of late flights were caused by mismanagement or operational faults by airlines, 26.1 percent were caused by air traffic control measures and 20.9 percent by bad weather.

Military activity only caused 7 percent of delays, officials said.