上海航班大批延誤 低正點率再添尷尬

A new chapter in China's long and inglorious history of airport delays is being written in Shanghai, but the details of how it started and when it will end are as opaque as the banks of sMog that hover over the nation's busiest runways.

在上海，中國漫長而不光彩的航班延誤史上又添新篇章，但關於這次延誤何以出現以及將於何時結束的具體情況仍不明朗，中國最繁忙的跑道正籠罩在重重迷霧之下。

Together Shanghai's two main airports delayed or cancelled dozens of flights on Tuesday after doing the same with hundreds of flights on Monday, leaving crowds of travelers either sitting idly in waiting halls or scrambling to the train station.

上海兩大主要機場週二數十個航班延誤或取消，而週一已有數百個航班出現了上述情況，滯留旅客或是在候機廳內閒坐等待，或是匆忙趕往火車站。

The reason, according to signs posted at the airports and messages disseminated online: an unspecified 'other user' of the airspace conducting exercises in the area.

據機場告示和網上發佈的信息顯示，航班延誤原因爲該空域有“其他用戶”正在進行演習。

China's airports are the worst in the world in getting flights off on time, according to flight tracking organization FlightStats, a phenomenon that can lead to passenger meltdowns of harrowing proportion. Authorities and airlines blame all manner of factors, from bad weather to bad communication with air-traffic control. But among the biggest factors, according to aviation experts, is China's military, which dominates all but a fraction of the country's airspace.

據航班追蹤組織FlightStats數據顯示，中國機場正點率全球墊底。乘客情緒崩潰的情況時有發生，比例高的令人憂心。中國相關部門和航空公司提出了種種延誤理由，從天氣糟糕到與空管交流不暢，不一而足。不過據航空專家稱，中國軍方是導致航班延誤的最主要因素之一，他們控制了中國絕大部分領空。

The vague references to another user of the airspace have fueled speculation that the delays are a consequence of Chinese Air Force maneuvers in the area.

通告語焉不詳地提到空域被另一方使用，因此外界進一步猜測飛機延誤是由中國空軍在該地上空舉行演習造成的。

Contacted by China Real Time on Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Administration of China confirmed that another user was indeed responsible for the delays, but declined to say who it might be. 'We don't have any other information to release at this moment,' an official with the CAAC news office said. 'We've asked that airlines do a proper job in taking care of passengers affected by the delays.'

“中國實時報”欄目記者週二聯繫了中國民用航空總局，後者證實說延誤的確由另一方造成，但不願透露其具體身份。中國民用航空局新聞處的一位官員表示，其他方面現在無可奉告。這位官員稱，他們已要求航空公司做好受影響乘客的安撫工作。

Several authoritative information outlets, including the verified social media accounts of the Beijing police and state broadcaster China Central Television, published a notice saying the delays would last until August 15 and affect multiple airports across eastern China, including in the former capital of Nanjing and the beach town of Qingdao.

北京警方和中國官方電視臺中國中央電視臺(CCTV)實名認證的社交媒體賬戶等幾家權威信息渠道發佈通告稱，飛機延誤的情況會持續至8月15日，南京和青島等中國東部地區多個機場將受到影響。

'Flight passengers bring along snacks and water!' warned the notice, which said airlines had been asked to reduce flights in and out of those cities by 25% over the period.

通告提醒說，航班乘客請自帶零食和水！通告還稱，已要求航空公司在這段時間將出入這些城市的航班量減少25%。

Yet according to CAAC the notice was 'not official,' and indeed, both the Beijing police and CCTV later took it down.

不過中國民用航空總局表示，通告非官方所發。北京警方和CCTV後來均從社交平臺上撤下了那則通告。

A similar lack of information paved the way for rumor-mongering in the wake of another mass flight cancellation in Shanghai on July 14, with some Internet users speculating that airspace had been shut down because a high-level government official was trying to flee the country.

由於類似的信息不足的原因，7月14日上海機場出現大面積航班取消的情況後外界也是議論紛紛。一些網友猜測，空域關閉是因爲有政府高官試圖逃跑。

Globally, Shanghai Pudong ranks 21st and Hongqiao ranks 36th in terms of passenger traffic, according to Airports Council International, an aviation industry association. Together, the two airports handled close to 83 million passengers in 2013 -- more than London's Heathrow and Chicago's O'Hare.

航空業組織國際機場協會(Airports Council International)的數據顯示，上海浦東和虹橋機場的客運量在全球分列第21位和第36位。2013年這兩個機場的客運總量接近8,300萬人次，超過倫敦的希斯羅機場(Heathrow)和芝加哥的奧黑爾機場(O'Hare)。

Between the two airports, 199 flights were cancelled and another 118 were delayed two hours or more on Monday, according to the state-run China Youth Daily. Another 61 were either delayed or cancelled on Tuesday, the Shanghai airport authority said on an official social media feed.

中國官方媒體《中國青年報》(China Youth Daily)稱，週一上海兩機場共取消了199架次航班，118架次延誤兩小時或更長時間。上海機場集團在社交媒體上發佈官方消息稱，週二延誤或取消的航班有61架次。