Passengers punished for halting plane at Pudong airport

SHANGHAI police said yesterday that they have handed down administrative punishment to the 20 angry passengers who took their protest onto a taxiway at Pudong International Airport to demand compensation for their delayed flight on Wednesday.

Though the passengers didn't intend to stop any planes on the taxiway, their behavior have violated the security regulation of China's civil aviation, city police said last night.

The civial aviation administration has also started an investigation into the incident. The watchdog expects to give domestic airlines some guidelines on handling compensation issues for flight delays.

Officials from the East China Civial Aviation Administration said the passengers resposible for the airport break-in should be seriously punished as such behavior poses big risks to flight safety.

Under whatever reason, nobody can be allowed to enter banned areas of an airport, as it threatens the safety of thousands of air passengers, officials said.

Officials also pointed out it was inappropriate for Shenzhen Airlines to compensate 1,000 yuan to each passenger, since the delay was caused by bad weather.

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