China tells pilots to raise skills to land in smog

[BEIJING] Chinese authorities have told pilots who fly to Beijing that they must be qualified to land their aircraft in the low visibility bought about by smog, state media said yesterday, as the government tries to reduce flight delays due to pollution.

Beginning from Jan 1, pilots flying from the country's 10 busiest airports into the Chinese capital must be qualified to use an instrument landing system (ILS) on days when smog reduces visibility to around 400 metres, the official China Daily said, citing China's civil aviation regulator.

"It is part of a series of measures the administration took recently to raise the flights' on-time performance," the newspaper quoted an unnamed aviation official as saying.