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Regarding yesterday's afternoon siesta taken by Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, one informed reader offered the following scenario:
The Pudong Airport thing is the long running battle between PLA Air Force and airport authority about payments from airport to air force -- they've now stepped up the squeeze.
We remembered reading something about this before, so we did a search of our Gmail archive and found the September 28 weekly update from the fine folks at Access Asia. Here's the pertinent part:
Why is My Flight Delayed?We get asked this question rather a lot by people arriving and departing from Shanghai’s Pudong Airport these days. So, here’s a collective answer. Problems of course remain with the airport’s design – all that shimmering architecture and not quite enough jet ways. There’s also the problem of local airlines not wanting to pay for jet ways, hence the buses to and from the planes that slow things down.
However, the other reason so many flights are delayed is an ongoing turf war between the airport authorities (and the CAAC regulator) and the Chinese air force. Round 1 in this turf war was a while ago, and led to delays on Shanghai-Beijing flights – basically the air force thinks it should get some money from CAAC, and until it does, claims precedence of airspace and flies jets around disrupting everything. A deal was apparently reached. Now the air force is going for the Shanghai-Hong Kong route and a deal has yet been reached. Of course, the Top Guns could fly around to their hearts content in Xinjiang, but there’s no money in that.
So was this Round 2 or Round 3?
Photo by TommyOshima.
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I am chinese and to read about this just makes me embarrassed and ashamed sometimes. WTF are these people thinking? Why do they have to act gangsta-like? After being in many parts of China, this type of situation is very common. They have no sense of making a customer satisfied. Customer service? That's obsurd! Well, generally, the people nice, but sh*t like this is BS. Forget about the millions of people trying to get to their destination. Lets just shut down the airspace. Pretty smart of them to build an airport near a military base. Just like that electrical tower they planted in the middle of the road where i am now. Everyone's got to drive around it!
To get rich is glorious. The shakedown on Beijing's airport will be one for the storybooks.
If just one Chinese politician would act smart and accountable and step forward and say something open and honest, it would do China and the world a lot of good.
All of this superficial rhetoric about a "harmonious society" and "scientific development" rings hollow when you have an incident like this.
Does anyone believe this? Why was there no warning? Why weren't flights rescheduled months in advance? Was this just horrendous planning or a horrendous cover-up???
Shanghai Airport suspends flights for biochemical-weapons drill
Shanghai. December 2. INTERFAX-CHINA - Shanghai's Pudong International Airport suspended flights for several hours yesterday because of a "biochemical weapons drill" in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, according to an airport official.
A China customs official working at the airport, who asked to remain anonymous, said the government closed the airport as part of an anti-terrorism drill in an effort to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the Expo in Shanghai in 2010.
Another government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said yesterday flights were blocked from landing from 1:40 p.m. through 4:40 p.m.
-RJ
The irony is foreign newspapers get hold of these stories and think what a joke. China is a world power but cant control its military and make it butt out of commercial affairs and commercial airspace.
Makes you think, when they were building pudong airport, why didnt they think, hmmmm, now who should we consult or notify about the airport location, oh i know, the airforce, they fly planes too, dont they..
China, great hardware but the software..its a bit lacking.