【英语中国】航班延误频发考验上海世博会

Despite waits of several hours to visit popular pavilions at the Shanghai Expo, up to half a million people a day are happy to endure the summer heat and humidity to enjoy the spectacle.

But what out-of-town visitors need to factor into their plans are extremely long and uncomfortable delays that happen sometimes hundreds of miles away from the venue.

Air traffic between Shanghai and Beijing, and other cities, has long been notorious for its delays. They're caused by everything from poor weather to the fact that huge areas of China's airspace are closed to all but military flights, leaving the rapidly expanding civil sector struggling to find slots.

Officials had suggested it would get better for the Expo, being held from May to October. The International Air Transport Association, in a posting on its website in May, flagged that relief was at hand. It said that its representatives had met with the China Air Traffic Management Bureau and officials from 22 airlines in March to discuss the implications of traffic growth stemming from the Expo, and that the bureau announced as part of efforts to cut delays that it had opened nine new routes, two temporary routes and three temporary holding areas over the Shanghai area. 'These initiatives will also reduce the ground delays in Shanghai airports,' IATA said.

The reality is somewhat less encouraging, if anecdotal evidence from many travelers, including a Dow Jones Newswires journalist, is anything to go by. On July 15, for example, Air China's CA1995 flight from Beijing to Shanghai's Hongqiao airport was due to depart at 6:30 p.m. At the departure gate came the news of a two-hour delay, with Shanghai air-traffic delays given as the reason.

Air China was clearly expecting difficulties: Stacked by the departure gate were the meals due to have been served on the flight, which were handed out to the waiting crowd. Then an hour into the wait came the news that the plane would be leaving shortly, but from Shanghai, where it had been delayed. Given a near two-hour flight time, the implications were clear. Once the plane reached Beijing and the Shanghai-bound travelers finally shuffled aboard, a brief journey to a holding area was followed by a further one-hour delay waiting for departure clearance. Eventual touchdown in Shanghai was well after midnight.

And after the Expo experience came the Sunday-afternoon flight back to Beijing, this time from Shanghai's state-of-the-art Pudong Airport, on CA1884. Scheduled departure was 4:20 p.m. At check-in came the unsurprising announcement of a one-hour delay. After that came and went, passengers were told of a gate change and rushed to a basement holding area, away from the public gaze. After more delays, they were bussed across the airport to the waiting plane, where they waited. And waited.

The only reason given was the usual traffic congestion. When the crew started serving the meals, it was clear it was going to be a long haul. And, indeed, it was nearly three hours on the tarmac before liftoff. And to compound the cattle-class treatment of its passengers, Air China then unloaded its clients at one of the most distant gates in Beijing's airport.

Apart from a couple of pro-forma apologies for the delays from the crews on both flights, that was it.

Seasoned travelers advise that would-be Expo visitors flying from Beijing, Xian or other provincial cities take morning flights to reduce flight delays - and make sure your phone and laptop batteries are fully charged, just in case. Or if you're a Beijing resident, you could forget the Expo, and delay your trip to Shanghai until next year, when the high-speed rail link between the two cities should be ready.

Air China responded later, saying 'We are terribly sorry about all the unhappy experience and problems caused to you.' It said it would forward the details of the delays to 'relevant' departments.

ZUMApress.com前往上海世博园？从机场开始就要经历漫长的等待。尽管参观上海世博会那些热门场馆要排上好几个小时队，但每天还是有高达50万名观众愿意为了一饱眼福而乐于长时间在户外忍受上海夏季湿热天气的考验。

但外地游客在制定自己的世博会参观计划时，应该把发生漫长而艰苦的旅途延误这一因素考虑进去，他们有时会被耽搁在距世博会场馆数百英里远的地方。

往返上海与北京及其他城市间的航班经常出现延误早就是出了名的。造成航班延误的原因多种多样，既有恶劣的天气，也有中国大量空域仅对军用飞机开放这一因素，后者导致中国迅速发展的民航业面临空域不足的问题。

官员们曾暗示说，为了世博会能在5月至10月间顺利举行，航班延误问题将得到改善。国际航空运输协会(IATA)今年5月在其网站上发布的一个帖子也表示中国的航班正点率很快就会提高。该机构称，它的代表今年3月已经与中国空中交通管理局和22家航空公司的管理人士开会讨论了世博会导致航班量增长所产生的影响，中国空中交通管理局当时宣布，作为减少航班延误的一项措施，它已经开放了九条新航路、两条临时性航路，并在上海设置了三个飞机临时等候区。国际航空运输协会说，这些措施也将减少上海机场的地面延误。

但现实情况却是，从包括道琼斯通讯社(Dow Jones Newswires)一名记者在内许多旅行者的亲身经历看，上述措施的效果并不怎么理想。以7月15日当天的情况为例，由北京飞往上海虹桥机场的中国国际航空公司(Air China)CA1995航班本应傍晚6:30从北京起飞。就在乘客准备登机时传来消息说，飞机要晚两个小时起飞，原因是上海方面出现了空中交通延误。

中国国际航空公司显然预计到了面临的困难：原本准备在飞机上供应的晚餐被推到登机口附近分发给等候乘机的旅客。在大家等了一小时后又有消息说，运乘客的飞机即将起飞，不过是从上海，它就是在那里被延误了。鉴于上海至北京的飞行时间将近两小时，这条消息可以让人清楚算出还需等待多长时间。飞机在抵达北京、机上乘客都下去后，还需花点时间滑行至一个起飞等候区，然后再用一个小时等待机场方面下达起飞许可。飞机最终在上海着陆时肯定早过了午夜。

在道琼斯通讯社这名记者参观过上海世博会、周日下午准备乘飞机返回北京时，他是从现代化的浦东机场出发，乘坐国航的CA1884航班。飞机的正点起飞时间是下午4:20。在机场办理登机手续时乘客们听到了飞机将推迟一小时起飞的消息，大家对此并不感到意外。乘客们在多等了这一小时后，又被告知要换登机口，大家匆忙跑到候机楼地下室一处位于公众视线之外的等候区。又耽搁了一段时间后，乘客们被送上大巴车穿越整个机场来到一架等候起飞的飞机前，在这架飞机上大家还是没完没了的等待。

机场方面给出的延误原因仍是空中交通堵塞。当乘务员开始向乘客提供晚餐时，乘客们显然可以看出他们将经历一次漫长的旅程。事实上飞机在停机坪上又等了近三个小时才终于起飞。国航似乎还嫌它对待乘客不够粗暴，CA1884航班抵达首都机场后把乘客们卸载在了最偏远的一个出口。

上述两个航班发生延误后，机组人员只是走过场道了番歉就万事大吉了。

那些经验丰富的旅行者建议，要降低航班延误的机率，从北京和西安等省会城市飞往上海参观世博会的游客应搭乘上午的航班，而且要确保你的手机和笔记本电脑充满电，以防万一。如果你是北京居民，大可先别考虑世博会，等明年京沪高速铁路开通后再去上海不迟。

国航后来回应说，对于给记者带来的不愉快体验和问题十分抱歉，并表示将向相关部门反映延误情况。