Red alert for China flights as airports axe landings, restrict services during PLA exercises
Military's use of air space to cause substantial drop in traffic at Shanghai's international airports and ban on landings at eight others this afternoon
The first day of the PLA’s military exercises in the East China Sea prompted the highest red alert for flight delays in eastern provinces: eight airports will not allow landings this afternoon, and Shanghai’s two airports will see their capacity cut by 75 per cent, the mainland’s civilian air traffic authority warned.
Due to the military’s use of air space above Shanghai from 2pm to 6pm today, the air traffic capacity at Shanghai’s Hongqiao and Pudong international airports will fall by 75 per cent, and the capacity of air routes in Zhengzhou in Henan province will also drop by 75 per cent.
Some northbound flights from airports in Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces will not be able to take off, according to a notice on the website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s Air Traffic Management Bureau.
The mainland has seen massive flight delays and cancellations since the PLA started its live-fire drills on Friday. Over the weekend, more than 800 flights at airports in Beijing and Shanghai were delayed or cancelled.
The aviation administration has advised relevant airlines to cut the number of flights entering the areas under alert in order to ease the delays, Xinhua reported.
The Defence Ministry said over the weekend that the bad weather, instead of military drills, was to blame for the troubles.