China punishes Shenzhen airport over flight delays, but PLA air force remains in control of the skies
Authorities ban new flights at Shenzhen hub in bid to ensure more planes take off and land on time, as punctuality rate falls to an all-time low
The aviation regulator is stepping up efforts to address the mainland's notorious flight delays - by punishing the airports and censuring airlines.
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".
[The Shenzhen airport flight ban] would serve as a warning to other airports
QI QI, AVIATION EXPERT
It would stop accepting new flights, routes and charters for the airport - the mainland's fifth busiest hub - until the end of the year, the authority said on its website on Monday.
It also reprimanded Shenzhen Airlines and China United Airlines for a series of incidents caused by flight delays at the Shenzhen airport in May, including one in which a passenger opened a plane's emergency door after another fainted while stuck on board for four hours waiting for take-off.
Investigators looking into the incidents found a lack of coordination and communication to deal with flight delays at the airport.
The regulator's move came just two days after it announced a three-hour shutdown of Beijing's two airports on September 3 for a military parade to commemorate the end of the second world war. The shutdown is expected to disrupt hundreds of flights.