CAAC boosts flights between Beijing and Shanghai

Flights between Shanghai and Beijing have been made available every half hour starting on August 6 as part of the Chinese government’s initiative to allow tourists to change tickets for other flights among five major domestic airlines. The Civil Aviation Administration of China launched the project to provide convenience to passengers on check-ins, security checks and boarding. The Chinese airlines participating in the project are Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines. A spokesperson of the CAAC was quoted as saying that passengers can enjoy the service as long as the discount on their tickets does not exceed 15 percent. The CAAC plans to expand the service to cover other major cities such as Shenzhen. Shanghai Airlines said this will provide a better mix of flights between Shanghai and Beijing. Before the service was launched, passengers could not switch flights to other airlines, thus resulting in flight delays. The Chinese government is working to ease passenger traffic in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. The CAAC is set to begin trial operations of the third runway of Beijing Capital International Airport in October. The opening of the new runway will increase aircraft movements by 50 percent with the number of flights per hour increasing from 30 to 90. Beijing airport posted a 26-million passenger volume from January to June this year.