An earlier piece in March 2015 has CAAC boasting how safe the skies have remained http://www.scmp.com/news/china/artic...bal-level-says

Yeah, I'd say the skies are pretty safe when planes aren't occupying them. But, some of us actually do need to go to/from the prd, and the prospect of 8 hour delays often forces us to simply stay put.

CX and KA have decided to cancel numerous flights in and out of China. Wow, I guess they are tired of handing out compensations and realized they actually lose money everytime they send out a flight. That's how bad it is...

I would say this is the tip of the iceberg. If the situation worsens CX/KA won't be the first airlines to do this. Even if they prioritize international flights, eventually the bottleneck will run out again and other foreign airlines follow suit.

Besides arrogance and sense of superiority, I really don't understand the PLA's decision to control 80% of airspace and not let it go.

Why? It is just about economics. Fix your prices accordingly.


Because it is their country and they can make the rules as they like.

Thanks for such insight. That explains the 80% restricted airspace logically and completely.

didnt you read about the bribries over slots?

http://www.post852.com/%E5%A4%A7%E9%...D%87%E9%99%8D/

I know CAAC is full of corruption (like every other agency in China), just don't know why the Chinese Gov't just don't tell the military to ease up and release more airspace.

They did try to add new corridors but the Taiwanese complained and back to the drawing board they went.

Tell them what to do? Surely, you jest. (The million guys with guns answer to their generals. Pushing the generals too hard is politically impossible/stupid.)

Eta: I first learned about the power of the PLA during my studies with Michael Oksenberg, who was about as expert as it gets wrt the makeup of the Chinese government (I.e. even Deng sought his advice on a regular basis). Since I don't want to politicise this thread, I simply advise those interested to Google "power 'pla'". Just read a few articles, and you'll get the picture.

Looks like another shambles this morning at BJS, all the morning CX/KA flights are delayed, with KA937 showing 6 hours delay. Weather is fine though.

A small typhoon just passed through Shanghai, and will impact the Beijing-hk flight path in about an hour.

Ah, so that's the reason....I see that Soudelor is making trouble too on the HKG - TPE route today.

I just noticed that last nights KA906 and KA996 were delayed from HKG by 14 hours and 10 hours respectively, both left HKG around 9.30 this morning. That didn't help much!

As I predicted, this thread is becoming pretty popular... the extent that the SCMP has been hounding us for interviews.

Therefore, I think we should give it a WikiPost.

Here are my thoughts with respect to the Wikipost content:

1. Background
2. Current status
-I know full well that we won't be able to keep things completely up to date, but major events, such as the BJS closure next month should be addressed
-and, if there is a big storm, anyone should feel free to edit this section
3. Alternatives to flying
-Beijing-Shanghai is easy
-Beijing/Shanghai-HK are not (e.g. trains to Guangzhou South always sell out, and then you're still 100 miles from HK)
-Other train routes are even more challenging, but we should still mention them at the very least

How will this work, does it mean that this thread will disappear and be replaced?