| China cutting back on flights |
China's aviation authority has announced plans to reduce flights due to safety concerns, banning the creation of new airlines before 2010.
China's airlines have carried 19.6% more passengers this year than last year, straining ground support, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, CAAC, said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.
"Along with the rapid development of the industry have come ever-more urgent problems with the supply of technical personnel, air space resources, and airport safety guarantees," said the notice.
Flight arrivals and departures at Beijing Capital Airport will be restricted to 1,050 per day, or 58 per hour at peak times, by the end of October, and fall further to 1,000 per day, or a maximum of 55 at peak hours, by the end of March 2008, the notice added.
According to this plan, China's 3 biggest carriers, Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, will be required to cut a total of 336 daily flights.
Spokesmen for the airlines confirmed plans to cut flights but said they had yet to be given official notice by the CAAC.
Beijing is already the world's ninth busiest airport by number of passengers handled, and is bracing for a jump in traffic around the time of the Olympic Summer Games in August 2008.
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