Airlines biggest reason for delays

BEIJING - Problems that originate with airline companies are the main reason for the country's delayed flights, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the authority that oversees the nation's skies, said in a report on Wednesday.

The appraisal of the air transportation industry's development in 2010 noted that 41.1 percent of all the delays that affected major carriers last year were caused by the airlines themselves, eclipsing other factors such as air traffic control problems (27.6 percent) and bad weather (19.5 percent).

Medium and small carriers had even more problems and were responsible for 47.9 percent of their delays.