This is weird. Just a few weeks after we heard about the scary possiblity of a German satellite crashing down into the heart of Beijing last October, now Shanghai Daily tells of another threat from the skies! Last month around 17 flights arriving in Shanghai on January 16 were instructed not to land for fear of space debris incoming from a failed Russian Mars probe, which incidentally landed on the other side of the planet... more ›

So apparently there were two pilots in the F-7 Flying Leopard fighter jet that went down yesterday in the Shaanxi air show. One made it, the other most likely didn't:

One of the two pilots ejected from the cockpit and deployed his parachute. But only one parachute was seen opening, and the plane, a two-seater JH-7 "Flying Leopard" jet, burst into flames as it crashed. more ›

CCTV aired images of this crash at the Shaanxi air show earlier today. The plane is a F-7 Flying Leopard fighter jet that suffered a malfunction during the performance. There are no casualties reported, and you can see the pilot eject and a parachute open (hopefully there was only one pilot, as it is a two-seat plane.) Emergency vehicles responded immediately to the crash, which took place 2 kilometers west of the show grounds, and the air show is now ongoing. more ›

So do we have to worry about Chinese driving etiquette infecting airplanes too?! A pilot with Juneyao Airlines (吉祥航空) almost caused a movie-scenario air disaster when he refused to yield the runway at Hongqiao Airport to a Qatar Airways plane on August 13th. The Qatar Airways pilot claimed that he had 'five minutes worth of fuel left.' The plane, traveling from to Shanghai from Doha, requested to land immediately during unfavorable thunderstorm conditions. However, the Chinese pilot refused to yield to orders from air traffic controllers, claiming that he had been waiting a 'long time' and needed to land 'right now'. The Qatar Airways plane eventually landed without incident, only after coming close enough to the Juneyao aircraft to be within collision-range. Meanwhile, spokesmen for Juneyao Airlines aren't buying the whole 'five minutes of fuel left' story. Right, because if anyone's the crazy pilot in the story, it's the nutso who can't even read his fuel gauge. more ›

Despite the Global Times reporting that some customers are bitching about the price, we're impressed that an airport would return your confiscated caches of explosives and lucky hunting knives in the first place. The service is having a trial run at Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 2, with items weighing less than 3 kg costing 20 yuan for delivery within Beijing, and 100 yuan if sent elsewhere. more ›

Has this been a crazy year for UFOs, or what? New reports say we can add one more sighting to an ever growing list: an airport near Baotou, Inner Mongolia was forced to shut down on September 11th for passenger jets to prevent them from crashing into a "UFO." more ›

Who knew Shanghai was so closely aligned with the aviation industry? Not only is the city the host of the first recorded flight in China (in 1909), it's modern incarnation is now an aviation center, with two ventures poised to shake up flight as we know it. The first: Comac's first China-designed-and-made jet ever, coming in 2016. The second: the world's first viable electric plane. How exciting! more ›

China budget traveler Spring Airlines, the company of possible "standing seating" fame, will be going international... if only for a little while. For two monthst starting from late July, it'll link Shanghai and Ibaraki Airport (located 80km northeast of Tokyo). The trial is to check whether there's enough passenger traffic to have a direct flight on a budget carrier between Shanghai and somewhere-slightly-inconvenient, Japan. Hey, a cheap flight is a cheap flight - hop on it! And a cheap flight to Japan will no doubt save you the much needed money to pay for everything else there. more ›

• Critics howl at pooch's pampering, price tag [China Daily] "A welcome worthy of a world leader that was given to a 4-million-yuan ($588,000) dog has raised the hackles of critics. The Tibetan mastiff, or Zang'ao in Chinese, arrived in his new masters' hometown of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, by air on Wednesday after he was bought for the colossal sum. After his safe landing, a motorcade comprising 30 Mercedes-Benz vehicles escorted the canine to his new digs."
• China and U.S.: Tire-d of Fighting [Forbes] "There was a time not too long ago when little seemed more important in U.S.-China relations than the politics of trade -- when a dispute over steel tariffs or the value of Chinese currency would bring out fire-breathers on either side of the Pacific. Now we'll find out if that time finally has passed. By Thursday Sept 17th, President Obama will take up the first big China trade issue of his presidency: tires, as in the cheap Chinese tires that millions of Americans have on their cars. Obama must decide whether to impose a tariff of as high as 55 percent that has been recommended to him by the U.S. International Trade Commission."
• High hurdles for China's commercial aviation ambitions [Reuters] "As Boeing and Airbus grapple with problems from global recession to manufacturing glitches, a longer-term worry looms: China's ambition to compete in the aerospace business. Beijing has declared its goal to manufacture large passenger jets with more than 150 seats and freighters capable of handling over 100 tonnes of cargo, with the explicit aim of taking on Boeing and Airbus."

For those looking to join the Mile High Club in a real Chinese plane, mark your calendar for 2016. This will be the year of China’s first foray into commercial aircraft; at present, the country only produces military aircraft engines. more ›

According to Xinhua, a group of journalists and officials were on a Southern Airlines flight to Nanjing in late February when one of them noticed a unusual luminous object traveling alongside their vessel. more ›

Cathay Pacific has given an apology and an upgrade to “Airport Auntie,” the hysterical older Chinese woman who had a complete breakdown in the Hong Kong International Airport after she missed her flight. more ›

The 60-seat China-made turboprop MA600 has been unveiled in Xi'an amid great fanfare. It is some 300 kilogrammes and 40 percent more fuel-efficient than its predecessor, the MA60, 122 orders of which have been received since it was introduced. While most of the foreign orders seem to be from African countries like Zimbabwe and Zambia — not the most exciting aviation markets — the China Aviation Industry Corporation has ambitious plans to take over its rivals, Canada's Bombardier and France's ATR, to become the world's leading provider of turbo-prop regional aircraft. Bombardier has since been quick to respond by saying it is not worried about increasing turboprop competition from China, adding that it is "the only aircraft manufacturer with three distinct families of products: turboprops for short haul, regional jets for mid-range and the proposed CSeries for longer-range and mainline carriers." more ›

Follow the jump for another video that offers you a better look at what the machine looks like. Not the most chic-looking, we admit, but hey, it works. more ›

All ye lucky yuletide souls whose employer's lack of the Scrooge gene has enabled ye to escape Shanghai over the Xmas break, rejoice! Those of you flying back into China after January 1 no longer need to fill in that pesky health declaration form. Although Shanghaiist kind of enjoyed the pre-landing self-diagnosis ritual. Just how many avian flu carrying fowl had we fraternized with over the past month? And could the hail of sputum from the guy sitting next to us develop into full-blown SARS? These questions, along with which fellow passenger to scrounge a pen off, took our thoughts away from the strip of tarmac hurtling at horrific speed towards our plunging aircraft. According to the national quarantine watchdog and civil aviation regulator (quoted in The Guardian), "The move aims to simplify immigration procedures and improve efficiency." Dunno how this would have any affect on queues, seeing as people fill out the forms in-flight, though apparently from from February 1, people with no goods to declare won't have to fill in customs forms when leaving or arriving in China, which may speed things up slightly, judging from the confusion over said forms we've witnessed at Pudong International. more ›