Government limits airliner deliveries in bid to improve safety following November China Yunnan CRJ crash
China's civil aviation authority has imposed a cap on the number of commercial aircraft that can be added this year to give the country's carriers time to improve safety systems and train staff.
The move comes in the wake of the November 2004 China Yunnan Airlines CRJ200 crash, which killed 55 people.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) says the country's airlines operate 742 commercial aircraft and plan to add 147 aircraft during 2005.
This will bring the nation's commercial aircraft fleet to 889, which represents an increase of around 19.8%. The CAAC adds that the 147 aircraft cap only applies to this year.
This is in line with a statement issued by the CAAC quoting president director Yang Yuanyuan, who says the 147 aircraft that are already scheduled for delivery in 2005 "basically meet the demands of the market growth".
He says: "As a result, CAAC in principle is not going to approve additional aircraft," adding that the CAAC is concerned that China's commercial airlines are expanding too quickly.
Yang was also quoted by the state-backed news agency Xinhua as saying the CAAC will be monitoring airlines more closely this year by, for example, performing more intensive checks of flight training, aircraft maintenance and overtime flights.
"At the same time, airlines must increase input into training [pilots] and maintenance professionals to improve their ability to ensure safety," says Yang, adding that "the industry's skill set has not kept up with the rapid development and fast growth".
It remains unclear what impact the cap will have on Chinese airlines, but a source at the CAAC's flight standards office in Beijing, told Flight International that the new directive is unlikely to have any impact on new aircraft orders.
Yang says Chinese carriers will still be able to order new aircraft this year, but the new directive means it will be difficult for airlines to get an exemption from the CAAC to have the aircraft added to the 2005 delivery schedule.
LEITHEN FRANCIS / SINGAPORE
Source: Flight International
