Passenger safety not at risk for planes which fly over China's new air defence zone
While Japanese airlines will not inform China if they overfly Beijing's new identification zone, experts say passenger safety will not be at risk
The decision by Japanese airlines not to comply with Beijing's order to report flight plans before entering the newly established air defence identification zone (ADIZ) may fuel tension between the two countries, but passenger safety will not be compromised.
Technically speaking, whether or not the airlines report their plans to Beijing is a mere gesture.
All civilian aircraft are visible to radars across the globe as they have to report their position and altitude to different flying information regions (FIRs) covering one authority to another so as to maintain sufficient separation between them.
"The military can listen in on all the aircraft's identity and location so there is no need for airlines to provide separate information for Beijing to maintain safety," said Peter Lok Kung-nam, a former director of civil aviation in Hong Kong.
The air defence identification zone over the East China Sea declared by Beijing requires all planes to file flight plans to the Foreign Ministry or the Civil Aviation Administration of China and respond to the authority when they are passing by. China's armed forces would adopt defensive emergency measures against unidentified aircraft, the notice read.
"Airlines could not fall into the unidentified category as each aircraft flown is documented and its flight plans have already been approved by the civil aviation department," said Wang Yinsheng, director of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China.