China air rage incidents caught on camera

Air rage attacks are a growing problem in China as the country struggles to make its planes fly on schedule, leading to increasing number of violent attacks on airline staff.

China has spent billions on building some of the largest and most modern airports in the world. But much to everyone's embarrassment, it seems unable to get planes to fly between them on schedule.

Last month, only 18 per cent of the 22,000 flights out of Beijing's Capital airport departed on time, according to the aviation research company FlightStats, making it the worst major airport in the world in terms of punctuality.

Shanghai was scarcely any better, with only 24 per cent of flights from Hongqiao airport leaving on time. Indeed, not a single Chinese airport managed to get even half their flights to leave on time.

The constant delays have seen mobs of angry passengers mount at least eight large protests at departure gates in the last two months, two of which saw staff physically beaten. There is even a new Chinese phrase for the rampaging hordes: the "kong nu zu", or "air rage tribe".

On Thursday July 18, more than 30 passengers broke through security and stormed the runway at Nanchang airport after being delayed for seven hours by bad weather.

The weekend before, passengers in Shanghai tried to rip off an attendant's name badge before hitting her in the head. In the subsequent fracas, two airport staff were hospitalised and three passengers arrested.
Other incidents have seen passengers faint on planes that were held on the runway for full days, and cabin crew assaulted by enraged customers.