HONG KONG — Congestion in the skies above southern China’s bustling Pearl River delta region, home to five airports and thousands of manufacturers, is one of the world’s biggest air traffic control problems, an airline industry group said last week.
Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive of the International Air Transport Association, said air traffic control over the congested region is a “mess” that needs to be fixed. He said flight delays are still at unacceptable levels despite some improvements.
The region’s steadily growing air traffic has resulted in very crowded airspace, and planes often have to take detours or adjust their altitudes to avoid collisions, resulting in delays.
In 2009, about 2,000 flights departing Hong Kong were delayed. The figure was roughly the same in 2007 and 2008. The problem is more acute for flights heading to mainland China, with more than 1,600 delayed from January to June last year.
The situation is compounded because the military controls China’s airspace, Bisignani said.
“Airspace is a finite resource from which we are working together to squeeze even more efficiency. The key willbe in releasing more military airspace for civilian use,” he said.
The delta’s air traffic congestion has been a long-running problem that airlines and regional officials have been working to resolve.Four airports - in Hong Kong, Macau and in the mainland Chinese cities of Zhuhai and Shenzhen - are within 40 miles of each other. Another, in Guangzhou, is 84 miles north of Hong Kong.
Business, Pages 70 on 02/20/2011