Authorities cancel flights as haze shrouds Beijing
A traveler at Beijing International Airport looks out at planes stranded due to thick fog, which caused widespread travel disruption
December 5th, 2011
09:32 AM ET

Authorities cancel flights as haze shrouds Beijing

Thick air shrouding Beijing forced authorities to cancel flights and close expressways, state media reported Monday.

The Beijing Capital International Airport canceled 56 departing flights and delayed dozens of others Monday morning, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

State media offered conflicting descriptions of what caused the haze.

"Smog disrupts flights at Beijing airport," a headline from the Xinhua news agency said. The state-run China Daily newspaper, citing Beijing's weather officials, said melting snow made the air wet and caused heavy fog that "crippled traffic, delayed flights and created obstacles in the highways in many places of North China since Saturday."

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Filed under: Air travel • China • Travel • World
soundoff (10 Responses)
  1. RUFFNUTT ( Somalian pirate & fisherman & kcmo resident )

    JUST WHAT WE NEED TO AVOID.. another hazing... hazing is dangerous.

    December 5, 2011 at 10:17 am | Report abuse |
  2. michaelfury

    http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/maximum-visibility/

    December 5, 2011 at 10:22 am | Report abuse |
  3. 19th century guy

    Opium?

    December 5, 2011 at 10:30 am | Report abuse |
  4. Neil Peart

    Our first stop is in Bogota
    To check Columbian fields
    The natives smile and pass along
    A sample of their yield

    Sweet Jamaican pipe dreams
    Golden Acapulco nights
    Then Morocco, and the East,
    Fly by morning light

    We're on the train to Bangkok
    Aboard the Thailand Express
    We'll hit the stops along the way
    We only stop for the best

    Wreathed in smoke in Lebanon
    We burn the midnight oil
    The fragrance of Afghanistan
    Rewards a long day's toil
    Pulling into Katmandu
    Smoke rings fill the air
    Perfumed by a Nepal night
    The Express gets you there

    December 5, 2011 at 10:34 am | Report abuse |
  5. banasy©

    My first thought was Ruffie was in Beijing having *too* good a time...

    December 5, 2011 at 10:38 am | Report abuse |
  6. Gravity7

    Reblogged this on Gravity7.

    December 5, 2011 at 12:50 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Portland tonyi

    Come on.....We had the same problem at LAX some 30 to 40 years ago. Fog, Smog and particulate matter in the air.........when only a few aircraft could safety use the airport. Those equipped with certain NAVAIDS. China has it's problems, but in time, they will set up measures to abate visible pollution.It took some 300 years for us to get where we are today energy wise..The Chinese can't get there in 30. Especially with their turbulent past.

    December 5, 2011 at 1:32 pm | Report abuse |
    • kev

      LA cleaned up its smog problem due to extremely strict environmental controls. Avionic systems have been around since the early 70's so your theory really isn't valid. China has a severe pollution problem as indicated by their govt's decision to shutdown most manufacturing and restrict car usage during the 2008 Olympics. But hey... the republicans think we should get rid of the EPA because it's a job killer. I guess we should be more like China? Clean air, water and land be damned.

      December 5, 2011 at 8:06 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Gasping_for_air

    If anyone wants to know what an industrialized country will look like without the EPA and OSHA, look at China.

    As for aviation, a CAT 3 system allows landings in zero visibility, but China does not have the infrastructure and training to operate to those standards. they have to stop takeoffs at 400 meters visibility, and landings have to top at anywhere from 550 to 800 meters at best. The smog problem will only get worse as production ramps up for the global economic recovery.

    It has been bad breathing for a while, and foggy! Look at these pictures from November and see how it started:
    http://www.ab9il.net/avgallery/china-smog.html

    They deserve better, the people over there in that murky air.

    December 6, 2011 at 5:13 am | Report abuse |
  9. @nickDNA

    Very interesting discussion about sustainability. The question is: What about the sustainability of the individual? See: http://www.thegeniusofflexibility.com/blog/top-7-united-nations-sustainability-secrets-x-factor-missing-at-the-2011-climate-change-summit/

    December 6, 2011 at 7:28 pm | Report abuse |
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