- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Nearly 60 per cent of flights were cancelled across China on Wednesday (21), according to state media but the world was wondering what had happened as there was no official explanation on the country’s top aviation body’s website.
China.com reported that Flight Master, which is based in Shenzhen, China, showed cancellation of 9,583 flights nationwide till around 10.35 pm on Wednesday, constituting for almost 60 per cent of the total scheduled journeys on the day, US-based far-right newspaper The Epoch Times said.
ALSO READ: Has Chinese president Xi Jinping put under house arrest? Internet explodes
Flight Master is a source of information on flights and services related to ticketing and travel.
It also said that some busy air transport hubs in the country registered more than 50 per cent cancellation rates.
Beijing Capital International Airport, for example, cancelled 622 flights, with a cancellation rate of 60 per cent. Shanghai Pudong International Airport, on the other hand, saw cancellation of 652 flights, with a cancelled rate of more than 50 per cent.
The Epoch Times also cited a report from Netease — a leading Chinese news portal — saying earlier this week that the cancellations took place mainly due to the Covid-19 flare-ups in various provinces of China.
The report also said that former Chinese investigative reporter Zhao Lanjian expressed on social media that “the reason [for the mass cancellations] is unclear, but [the mass cancellations] are true,” and that such a nationwide mass cancellation was “very rare.” He also suspected a military directive behind the call.
The claimed source of the information is an “investigative journalist” named Zhao Lanjian who tweeted that 60% of China’s flights have been cancelled, which is an indication of a coup.@ELuttwak might agree that flight cancellations are not the opening phase of a coup.
— Drew Thompson 唐安竹 (@TangAnZhu) September 23, 2022
investigative reporter Zhao Lanjian contacted aviation professional in China. “the reason for the mass cancellations is unclear, but “very rare.”This mass cancellation of flights must be military directive, airspace set aside so that military aircraft can fly at will.
— david (@david40767754) September 24, 2022
However, the suspicion over the nationwide cancellation of flights got intense on Saturday (24) when the internet was abuzz with speculation that Chinese president Xi Jinping has been put under house arrest by the People’s Liberation Army.
