China's civil aviation authority will strictly limit the operation of passenger jets that are not equipped with a second-generation airborne collision avoidance system (ACASII) starting from Friday.

The move aims to decrease the possibility of jet collisions following the tragic collision last week in southern Germany between a cargo plane and a passenger jet, Tuesday's China Daily reported.

A document from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said passenger jets without the ACASII system are not allowed to take off or land between 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at major domestic airports including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen beginning July 12.

Such jets will also be forced to fly below the altitude of 8,400 meters along some busy air routes.

The CAAC document said planes have increased dramatically in recent years, posing great difficulties to air traffic control.

The ACASII system would help correct the errors neglected by ground radar systems, and avoid possible collision tragedies, it said.

CAAC statistics show that most domestic airline fleets have the collision avoidance system, though some need to be upgraded. Some small planes, which operate mainly on regional routes, are still not equipped with such a system.

China had promised in December 2001 that domestic commercial jets would be equipped with ACASII before 2004 to strengthen air safety.

( Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2002)