Air rage: Chinese screaming mad over delays [View all]

[n2doc]

Dec 11 (Reuters) - Airline crews and ground staff are assaulted, passengers storm a runway, and a person yanks open an emergency exit door on a plane.

In China, angry passengers are resorting to extreme measures to protest delays as the country's restricted air corridors are becoming clogged with millions of new fliers each year -- a fact attributed to the fast rise of the middle class and cheap flights.

There have been dozens of incidents involving irate travellers on both domestic and international flights this year, as airlines struggle to stick to their schedules.

"When flights get delayed, passengers make a lot of trouble. Sometimes they even beat our staff," Wang Zhenghua, founder and chairman of Shanghai-based budget carrier Spring Airlines, told Reuters in an interview earlier this year.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/10/china-airtravel-idUSL4N09D1LI20121210