China's new rules on flight delays aim to tackle the problem by clarifying the responsibilties of stakeholders, reported Beijing News.
根据《新京报》报道，我国近日出台的旨在解决航班延误问题的相关新规定明确了利益攸关方的职责。The rules issued recently by the Ministry of Transport state that when a flight is delayed or cancelled due to reasons including bad weather, emergency, passengers and air traffic control, the carrier should arrange room and board for passengers with the cost paid by passengers themselves. If a flight is delayed or cancelled due to reasons caused by the carrier, it should pay for it.
交通部近日发布的规定明确，由于天气不好、突发事件、旅客以及空中交通管制等原因，造成航班延误或取消时，承运人应当协助旅客安排食宿，费用由旅客自理。如果由于承运人原因造成航班延误或取消，费用应由承运人承担。
Li Xiaojin, a professor of Civil Aviation University of China, said the new rules better clarify the accountability in a flight delay. It can help carriers be responsible for their own mistakes, rather than paying for all flight delays.
中国民航大学的李晓津教授表示，这一新规更好地明确航班延误的责任。它可以帮助运营公司对自己的错误负责，而不是对所有航班延误买单。
The new rules, which will take effect from Jan 1, 2017, also require carriers to notify the passengers within 30 minutes when a massive flight delay happens.
新规自2017年1月1日起实施，新规还要求，当航班发生延误时，承运人应在30分钟内向旅客发出通告。Also, a flight delay is defined according to the time when the chocks are removed from wheels, or when an airplane is ready to take off.
此外，航班延误取决于撤轮挡时间，即飞机准备起飞的时间。Li said that the new rules, which are China's first on flight delays, are expected to help ease severe flight delays in the sector.
李晓津教授说道，这一首个关于航班延误的新规，预计将有助于缓解严重的航班延误。Nearly one-third of Chinese flights were delayed in 2015, and air traffic control measures were the biggest drag on flights, accounting for 30.7 percent of air delays last year, reports of Civil Aviation Administration of China showed.
根据中国民航总局的报告显示，2015年有近三分之一的中国航班延误，而空中交通管制措施是飞行中的最大阻力，占去年航班延误的30.7%。