CRI听力:China to Conduct Military Drill in SE Coastal Areas

The Chinese military has announced that it will conduct an exercise in the southeast coastal areas starting Tuesday, July 29, but the military is stressing that the exercises are not the major factor behind the recent massive flight delays.

The Ministry of National Defense says the maneuver is important for testing combat capability and improving real-combat training levels and military preparation.

 It says both military and civil aviation management authorities have taken measures to minimize the exercise's impact on civil flights by opening temporary air routes, allocating protection airspace, and setting down alternative deviation plans.

It says recent flight delays were mainly the result of meteorological conditions. Massive flight delays have been affecting Shanghai and other cities. Dozens of flights have been canceled and over 20 delayed at both Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports.

Yan Shuming is an airline shift supervisor at Hongqiao. 

 "As a large number of passengers have been affected, the company is trying to operate as many flights as possible. But the long delays will affect the later flights, so we have to cancel some of them."