SHANGHAI Flight delays in Shanghai are set to decrease further with a new change in regional air traffic rules.
The East China Air Traffic Management Bureau announced in April that the minimum flight altitude has been lowered from 8,400 metres to 7,800 metres. Aircraft must be at least 300 metres apart in altitude, so lowering the minimum altitude allows for more aircraft to fly over Shanghai at the same time.
Lisa Xu, general manager of Shanghai Airlines Event Management Company, said the new rules are proving to be effective. “There has definitely been an improvement compared to last year,” she said. “International flights are usually on time, except when they are affected by weather conditions. But the situation with domestic flights was really bad before.”
She noted that the improved situation could have been due to the lower number of visitors passing through Shanghai, compared to when the city hosted World Expo 2010.
In 2010, increasing complaints about flight delays led to an investigation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) that was conducted between February and April.
The study showed that less than 50% of domestic flights departing from Shanghai were on time. Lowering the minimum altitude was one of CAAC’s recommendations for improving the situation.