If you're a frequent flyer here in China, chances are you have a lot of stories to tell about delays and cancellations. Statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, show that in the first half of this year, flights in China were even less punctual than in 2014.

Q1. Depending on how often they fly and what routes they take, people may feel differently about how punctual their planes are, but what do the data tell us?

A1. Well, I hate to tell you this, but the numbers are rather disappointing. According to the CAAC, the punctuality rate for the first half of this year stands at less than 70%. In other words, one out of every three flights your take is likely delayed. At 65%, the punctuality rate is 3 percentage points lower than that of last year. As you can imagine, most passenger complaints revolve around delays. 689 formal complaints were filed to aviation authorities between January and May. They include being stranded at the airport for a lengthy period of time, getting stuck in the cabin for too long, a lack of flight information transparency, and unsatisfactory compensation.

Q2. This is an old topic but as you just reported, things have not improved. Why is that?

A2. One primary reason is airspace allocation. Only 20% of China's massive airspace is open for the use of civil, commercial flights. The rest is reserved for military use. That's like having a 10-lane expressway but only allowing cars in 2 of them. It's the polar opposite in the US, where 80% of airspace is available for commercial flights. Then there's the rise in passenger numbers. Statistics show the number of flight passengers per month has been growing at 10% over the first half of this year, but there have not been additional air routes to accommodate that. In the US and Europe, the busiest routes see about 400 flights on a daily basis. In China, 13 routes had more than 500 flights a day in 2014. The busiest route, the one linking Beijing and Xi'an via Taiyuan, had 1,100 flights a day. With that much air traffic, anything out of the ordinary could lead to delays. Common causes for delays include weather, air traffic control and airline-related reasons. In 2014, airline-related reasons, such as plane scheduling, mechanical problems and staff topped the list of delay reasons at 26%. So it makes sense to choose your airlines wisely. The top three airlines registering over 70% punctuality in 2014 were Air China, China Southern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines.

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