China to face widespread flight delays due to three-week ‘military exercises’

Twelve mainland airports, many of them among the busiest, will be hit by widespread delays until the middle of next month because of what are believed to be PLA military exercises.

The mainland's civil aviation regulator yesterday told state radio that flights in and out of airports in the country's east - including Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan - would be affected from last Sunday until August 15 by the "high-frequency drills of another user".

State-run media did not say who was organising the exercises, but it is widely assumed to be the PLA.

Ni Lexiong , a Shanghai-based military affairs commentator, said large-scale military drills centred on the east of the country were needed because it would probably be the first target of any foreign forces attacking China.

Disrupting the operation of 12 civilian airports meant the drills had to be very large-scale, Ni said.

The other affected airports are in Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Wuxi, Ningbo, Qingdao, Lianyungang and Zhengzhou.

Chinese military flight drills could hurt airlines and drive airfares up, analysts say