A Beijing-bound flight from Shanghai landed at its origin more than 17 hours after the journey began, as severe thunderstorms at its destination forced the aircraft to turn back twice.
The China Eastern Airlines plane took off from Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport at 2:11 am Monday morning, after a five-hour delay, bound for Beijing.
The Airbus A330-300 aircraft, carrying 250 passengers, was delayed due to inclement weather in the Chinese capital. More than 400 flights were canceled.
About 62 miles from its destination, the flight made a U-turn and returned to Shanghai, landing at the Pudong airport (on the east side of the city) about three hours later, at 4:59 am, according to data provided by Umetrip, a mobile application that provides flight information.
Six hours later, the flight took off again at 11:13 am for Beijing, but was turned back a second time due to a thunderstorm warning.
It landed back at Hongqiao at 2:26 pm on Monday, more than 17 hours after the journey began.
Chinese airlines and airfields frequently rank among the world’s least reliable for being on time, as severe constraints in capacity and aggressive management by air traffic control – the air space is shared by the civilian aviation authority and the air force – often wreak havoc on schedules.
But flight MU5331 was an extreme example.
“Passengers can blame the extreme weather,” said Zheng Honggang, chief executive of Shanghai-based Kate Travel. “But air traffic control that causes frequent flight delays on the Chinese mainland often provokes ire among passengers.”
Chinese travelers have been spending more time waiting as delays worsen. The tardiness had affected airport operators.
Pudong airport was banned in 2015 from adding new flights and routes until the airfield improved on its punctuality record.
At its worst, Pudong’s on-time departure rate was 51%, which meant one in two flights could not take off within 30 minutes of the scheduled departure.
Traffic congestion has also worsened as handling capacity at airports failed to keep pace with the explosive growth in air travel.
About 436.2 million people traveled by air in 2015, 11.3% more than a year earlier, according to Chinese aviation authorities.
Shanghai’s two airports have since improved on punctuality since 2015. But for the passengers of flight MU5331, the improvements did not help.
The flight was ultimately canceled. Passengers were assigned other flights for Beijing, or compensated with money for high-speed rail tickets.
Source: inkstonenews.com