Illegal drone flights ruffle feathers

QINGDAO - Civil aviation industry insiders have called for tighter regulations over illegal drone flights as China has become the world's largest manufacturer of consumer drones.

The country has about 20,000 unregistered unmanned aerial vehicles, according to attendees at the China UAV Safety Development Forum, which opened in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Saturday.

Wu Qiang, deputy chief engineer of the Aviation Industry Development Research Center of China, said illegal drone flights threaten the operational safety of civil aviation flights.