Right and duty in flight cannot be separated: PLAAF spokesman

An article titled "It's a Joint Responsibility for the Whole Society to Safeguard Aerial Safety" signed by Col. Shen Jinke, spokesman of the Air Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLAAF), was published on the official website of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on February 18, 2014.

The emphasis was made by the PLAAF spokesman that the state shall safeguard the right of flight for each member of the society according to laws and regulations while each member of the society should also fulfill the duty to safeguard the aerial safety in accordance with the laws. The right of flight in accordance with laws and regulations and the duty to safeguard aerial safety are inseparable from each other. Any activity in the air should be based on the premise of having ensured the national air-defense safety, public safety and personal safety.

The PLAAF spokesman expressed that the "General Aviation Flight Approval and Management Provisions" should be systematically, comprehensively and rigorously followed and put into practice. Simplifying flight approval procedures should go after the premise that the aerial order and safety are ensured. All the approval cases should be carried out speedily and efficiently. Emergency flights for medical and health incidents, rescue and disaster relief as well as handling emergencies should receive prioritized support.

The PLAAF spokesman pointed out that the reform in low-altitude airspace management by China is not the so-called "full opening of the aerial space below 1,000 meters for free flights at will", but a practice with reference to the international practices to divide the aerial space under 1,000 meters into the three low-altitude aerial areas and visual flight routes according to the national aerial safety defense and the situations of military and civilian aviation, that is, the control aerial area, the monitor aerial area and the report aerial area. It establishes aerial space operation standards, articulates security responsibilities and adopts categorized management in different modes.

He also emphasized that it is a key point of the reform in low-altitude airspace management to safeguard aerial normality and order and to ensure safe and highly-efficient flights. In order to achieve the full development of general-purpose aviation, we should establish the concept of safe development. To promote the safe development of general-purpose aviation, we should rigorously control the issuance of flight certificates and rigorously control and monitor flight safety. Any flight in violation of regulations and provisions must not be allowed in any aerial area, at any altitude and under any circumstance.

According to the PLAAF spokesman, it is an imperative measure for the sake of safeguarding the aerial order and safety for the PLAAF to exert flight control in our national territory in a unified way. Besides the premises of effectively safeguarding aerial order and ensuring territorial space safety and flight safety, flight control should also provide air traffic services for military combat-readiness training flights, public transportation flights of civilian aviation as well as general-purpose aviation flights, so as to efficiently develop and utilize the aerial space resources.

To support the development of civilian aviation industry, the military has also relocated and constructed 10 airports, transferred 13 airports for civilian aviation usage, shared the usage of 63 airports, closed 457 training aerial areas, and opened up new flight routes for a total of 56,000 kilometers, which have optimized the reform of flexible usage of aerial areas, effectively reduced the effect of military activities on flights and navigation, and greatly fueled the civilian aviation to develop at an average rate of 10% each year, Shen Jinke added.