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Dragonair to the Mainland - delays?

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  1. #1

    Dragonair to the Mainland - delays?

    Anybody fly KA to the Mainland regularly? How are the delays? Are they as bad as a few years ago? I have an office in GZ now so have been flying domestic but need to fly out of HK again regularly soon.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Sep 2014
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonastainine:
    Anybody fly KA to the Mainland regularly? How are the delays? Are they as bad as a few years ago? I have an office in GZ now so have been flying domestic but need to fly out of HK again regularly soon.
    I do, and yeah, delays are frequent and sometimes quite long. Especially if you fly to Beijing or Shanghai. Frequency of delays do decrease if you fly to second-tier and third-tier mainland cities, but sometimes, the delays can be system-wide (that is, affecting the whole of the mainland). The trick is to try and take the earliest flight possible to Beijing or Shanghai, before the traffic builds up.

    The delay itself has less to do with KA and more to do with who controls Chinese air space. Doesn't matter which airline you fly, you will have delays when flying to China.

    This is due to the fact that all air space in China is controlled by the PLA. There is no such thing as "civilian" air space over China. And the PLA will give commercial air traffic short shift and prioritize military operations. They aren't concerned with the hassle and inconvenience that military operations will cause to civilian air traffic. So next time when there is a huge delay and there is no issue with weather at the destination or enroute, then chances are the PLA is engaging in an unannounced military exercise.
    Last edited by Cho-man; 26-10-2015 at 09:16 PM.

  3. #3

  4. #4

    Join Date
    May 2009
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    To Dragon twice to Shanghai, 'to' was fine, return had massive delays, like 5 hours or so, on both returns.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2015
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonastainine:
    Anybody fly KA to the Mainland regularly? How are the delays? Are they as bad as a few years ago? I have an office in GZ now so have been flying domestic but need to fly out of HK again regularly soon.
    You'll be better off flying out of Hong Kong than Baiyun.
    East_coast likes this.

  6. #6

    I just looked at some HKG to PVG fares at the KA site. The cheaper V, N, etc. classes have morning and early afternoon flights blacked out. Early morning flights need to book full fair at over $4k. I guess I'll just spend an extra night in Shanghai.

    The last time I flew KA to the Mainland was a year ago to Wenzhou and the return flight was delayed by 3 hours. So I guess this is normal?


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonastainine:
    The last time I flew KA to the Mainland was a year ago to Wenzhou and the return flight was delayed by 3 hours. So I guess this is normal?
    You need to plan for it at the very least.

  8. #8

    Thanks everyone. I will fly KA with anticipation of delays and plan accordingly. As long as I get lounge access and wi-fi I can get work done.


  9. #9

    Join Date
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    Delays out of Shanghai is most common and very rarely to do with the airline as Cho-Man already said, its the bloody PLA controlling the air space.

    I actually flew China Eastern last month to Shanghai, going and coming back NO DELAY at all but my colleague took it the week before the same flights, going to Shanghai - delayed 5 hours, return delayed 5 hours WTF.

    The sacrificing of the virgin goats was worth it