CAAC Punishes Shanghai Pudong, Hangzhou and Tianjin Airports over Flight Delays

China's aviation regulator said it will withhold approvals of new air routes, chartered services and additional flights at Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) and Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN) for October, due to major flight delays in August 2015.

According to data released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), 48 major airports in China registered an average on-time departure performance of nearly 70 percent in August, climbing 18.23 percentage points year on year.

However, all the above three airports delivered less than 70 percent of their flights from the departure gates within 30 minutes of schedule in August, ranked dead last for on-time departures among the country's 48 major airports.

Shanghai Pudong was even ranked at the bottom of the list with only 51.16 percent on-time departures in August.

The CAAC imposed the new flight freeze, blocking any additional flights in and out of PVG, HGH and TSN during this October, the aviation watchdog said Thursday night in a notice.

In this August, the CAAC suspended south China's Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport adding new flights and routes, or charter flights, due to its mishandling of major delays since the second half of 2014. The suspension started on Aug. 1 and will last until the year end.