On July 20, the State Council Information Office (SCIO) held a press conference on "Several Opinions of the State Council on Promoting the Development of the Aviation Industry" in Beijing. Li Jiaxiang, chief of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) pointed out that last year the on-time performance rate of China civil aviation was 77.4 percent, citing that air traffic accounts for 27 percent of flight delays, while airlines are responsible for 40 percent.

The Several Opinions of the State Council on Promoting the Development of the Aviation Industry was published on July 12. According to the Opinions, the nation's civil aviation development is unbalanced and incongruous; besides, all the issues like the irrational distribution of airspace resource, the relatively low development of infrastructure, the scarcity of professionals, the incompetence of aviation enterprises and the yet-to-be-straightened managerial system limit the sustainable development of civil aviation. The Opinions also make a comprehensive depiction of the situation of civil aviation, as well as the blueprint of the civil aviation development.

101 Airports Under Renovation; CAAC Strives to Improve Flight Normality

Li Jiaxiang also pointed out that aviation consumers and the public focus mainly on flight delays. A very important reason for the decline in the normality of flights is that there are 101 civilian airports under renovation and expansion in China during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, which exerts great influence on the normality of flights.

Airline companies account for most flight delays. In the future, the CAAC will work out a plan to promote the quality of the operation of civil aviation and improve the normality of flights.

Finally, Li Jiaxiang added that the normality of flights should be subject to flight safety. He emphasized that all involved parties should give top priority to safety at any time.