China probing passenger runway revolt

China’s aviation regulator said it is investigating two incidents of ‘ultra-emotional’ behaviour where passengers rushed onto the tarmac in protest over flight delays, according to Xinhua, the official press agency of the People’s Republic of China

On April 11, 28 passengers waiting for a Shenzhen Airlines flight rushed onto a runway  – disrupting an Emirates Airline flight – at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport in protest after bad weather delayed their flight.

Again, on April 13, several passengers waiting for a Hainan Airlines flight ran onto the tarmac of the Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou after heavy rains delayed flights.

Xia Xinghua, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said in a meeting earlier this year that domestic airports should create better information systems although support for them from local arport authorities has been lacking.

Experts quoted by Xinhua blame the chaotic management of China’s aviation industry for the country’s chronic flight delays.

In 2004, the CAAC said domestic airports could direct resources to develop the aviation industry. This simply led to the industry becoming divided into three parts: airlines regulated by state asset managers, airports regulated by local governments and law enforcement regulated by state security – leaving customer service lost in the ensuing bureacracy.

Passenger numbers at China’s airports hit 620.5 million in 2011, up 10 per cent year-on-year, according to CAAC data. To cope with surging demand amid its economic boom, China plans to invest more than 1.5 trillion yuan (US$238 billion) in the aviation industry by 2015, Li Jiaxiang, head of the CAAC, said last year.