China's civil aviation safety record and punctuality rate for
flight arrivals are above the world's average level, deputy
director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Gao
Hongfeng said yesterday.
In an online interview he said China's civil aviation safety
level between 2000 and 2005 was 0.29, while the world's average
level was 0.7.
"We will continue to improve safety because China still lags
behind developed countries like the United States, which is just
0.169," he said.
The punctual arrival of flights on Chinese airlines is more than
80 percent, also better than the global average, he said.
However, because these delayed flights are concentrated at large
airports such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, it gave
passengers a stronger impression of delays, Gao said.
Gao said China's civil aviation industry had developed too
quickly and this was one of the reasons why flights were delayed so
often.
"More than 1,000 planes and 5,000 flights a day are too much to
handle right now. It is like a serious traffic jam on Beijing's
ring roads," he said.
CAAC has taken measures to reduce flight delays and rein in
development, including canceling some frequently delayed
flights.
It has also stopped receiving applications for new private
airlines before 2010. Even so the CAAC has been quick to reassure
private carriers they were not being frozen out.
"There is no change to our policy of encouraging and supporting
private capital in the industry," Gao said.
Since 2004, CAAC has received 39 applications to set up private
airlines. So far, 17 of them have been successful.
"We will continue to handle the applications that we have
already received. We are just trying to slow down the pace a
little," he said.
In addition, Gao said he was confident budget airlines would be
able to operate in China one day. Some carriers, such as Spring
Airlines, have already started emulating foreign budget
airlines.
Even so, he said, there are still many issues to be addressed,
such as lowering the cost of aviation oil.
Also, Gao said Chinese airlines needed an additional 9,000
pilots by 2010 to satisfy the demand created by rapid growth. Gao
said the CAAC is expanding its training capacity and allowing
private companies to participate.
(China Daily September 7, 2007)
