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)