CAAC Issues Management Regulation For Foreign Airlines

To strengthen the management of foreign airlines' operating in China, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China has issued a management regulation concerning foreign aviation transportation enterprises' business licenses.

The regulation says that foreign airlines are not allowed to change their operating flight schedules freely each quarter. For business reasons, foreign airlines must apply for CAAC's approval at least 30 days before the date on which they want to implement the change. For temporary flight changes caused by weather or aircraft fault problems, they should apply for approval as early as possible. For temporary arrangements of additional flights to meet market requirements, foreign airlines are requested to submit their applications at least five working days before the date of the change.

Foreign airlines must get these approvals if they wish to operate in China. Additional flights must be temporary, applications for extra scheduled flights are not permitted. The number of additional flights which foreign airlines applies for are not allowed to exceed that of their scheduled flights.

If a foreign airline changes its flight schedules without CAAC's approval, either they will be given a warning or a fine of no more than RMB30,000 will be imposed. If any foreign airline obtains its business license through fraud, offering bribes, or any other illegal methods, its business license will be annulled and a fine of no more than RMB30,000 will be imposed. Such applicants will not be permitted to apply for a new business license again within a year after its business license was annulled or it was punished.