China's civil aviation authority will expedite preparations to
guarantee safe, sound and comfortable air transport during the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games.
Yang Yuanyuan, head of the General Administration of Civil
Aviation (CAAC), has urged the air traffic control department to
study airspace issues related to the 2008 Olympic Games and come up
with a detailed plan as soon as possible.
"The key issues (to be studied) include adjusting air routes
over Beijing during the Games, redesigning air routes for departing
planes and planes flying through the capital's air space and
improving air routes in neighboring areas," he said.
Zhao Yibing, professor at Civil Aviation University of China in
Tianjin, said ordinary travelers might be
affected by the air traffic control measures. "Some commercial
flights could be rescheduled to avoid the traffic rush.
"Other flights may be arranged to land in neighboring airports
of Tianjin or Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province during the Games," he said.
CAAC plans to apply the RVSM (reduced vertical separation
minimums) system in China before August 30 to handle the increase
in air traffic.
Air traffic in China is expected to increase by at least 50
percent by 2008, with the Games generating an additional 15
percent, International Air Transport Association's (IATA) estimates
showed last year. CAAC started preparations last August to handle
the extra load.
One measure is to set up an air control region in Beijing before
the end of this year, with terminals shared by the military and the
civil aviation department both.
The other measures are improving radar navigation and other
information systems in the Beijing area and working with Boeing to
study how can three runways be operated successfully at the
capital's airport. IATA, which helped the Athens and Sydney
organizers with air traffic control during the last two Games, said
it would do so with Beijing too.
"IATA will invite CAAC officials to visit Athens or Sydney this
year, and call experts to exchange their experiences," assistant
director for safety, operations and infrastructure with IATA's
North Asia branch Li Wenxin said over the phone.
"Beijing's capacity of handling flights has reached the maximum
level," said professor Zhao Yibing. "In addition, the airport has
to deal with the shortage of air traffic control staff and
communications facilities and natural emergencies such as
rainstorms".
(China Daily January 23, 2007)