Air travel across parts of China has been thrown into turmoil as severe winter weather triggered a fresh wave of disruptions affecting some of the country’s busiest routes and key regional gateways. According to live operational data from Chinese flight tracking and airport information platforms on February 8 and 9, at least 29 flights were halted and a further 387 delayed across multiple carriers, with Air China, China Express Airlines and Sichuan Airlines among the most affected. The brunt of the disruption is being felt by passengers moving through major hubs such as Beijing and Chengdu, as well as those on thinner routes connecting to remote regions including Xinjiang. For travelers planning to fly into, out of, or within China over the coming days, understanding the scale and nature of these disruptions is now essential.
Severe Weather Slams Northern and Western China
The current wave of disruption has been driven primarily by a combination of heavy snow, freezing rain and powerful crosswinds sweeping across northern and western China since early February. Meteorological advisories issued in recent days flagged unstable conditions around Beijing and across swathes of inland north and northwest China, with particularly sharp drops in visibility and significant wind shear at altitude. These conditions have forced air traffic controllers to increase spacing between departures and arrivals, slowing operations at already congested hubs.
Although large scale sand and wind events in Beijing in 2025 offered a stark recent reminder of how weather can paralyze the capital’s airspace, the present episode is rooted more in winter storm activity than dust. The result is similar for passengers: heavily constrained runway capacity at peak times, airborne holding patterns while crews wait for clearance to land, and last minute diversions when crosswinds or ground conditions breach safety thresholds. For regional airports in western provinces that have more limited de-icing infrastructure or shorter operating hours, short notice suspensions have become the only safe option.
By the evening of February 9 local time, live flight monitoring data showed ripple effects radiating out from the Beijing and Chengdu areas to airports across the interior. Xinjiang, with its already challenging winter operating environment, has seen a particular concentration of delays, as strong winds and low cloud ceilings combine with the knock-on effect of aircraft and crews being out of position elsewhere in the network.
How Air China, China Express and Sichuan Airlines Are Being Hit
Among China’s major and mid sized carriers, Air China, China Express and Sichuan Airlines have emerged as three of the hardest hit by the latest weather disruptions, largely because of where they operate and the role they play in the country’s domestic network. Air China, as the flag carrier and primary tenant at Beijing Capital International Airport, has borne a significant share of the delays on trunk routes linking the capital with Chengdu, Shanghai, and major provincial cities. Recent operational data for key Air China routes into Chengdu already indicated high average delay times even before this latest weather front intensified, leaving little slack when conditions deteriorate further.
Sichuan Airlines, which uses Chengdu as its main hub, has also been forced to adjust. Routes connecting Chengdu with cities such as Shenyang and Nanjing have shown a pattern of frequent lateness and extended average delays in recent weeks, and the current storm system has pushed these fragile schedules to breaking point. With a substantial portion of its operation tied to Chengdu’s airspace, even minor flow control measures can cascade into significant disruption over the course of a day.
China Express Airlines, a regional carrier specializing in thinner, often underserved routes across western and central China, plays a critical role in connecting remote cities and resource rich regions with the national network. When adverse weather hits smaller airports or constrains operations at the hubs where its flights connect, China Express has fewer alternative aircraft and crew options to redeploy. That dynamic has translated into outright flight halts on selected sectors and extended delays for services linking smaller city pairs, particularly those involving western provinces and Xinjiang.
Stranded in Beijing, Chengdu and Xinjiang: What Travelers Are Experiencing
For passengers, the raw numbers of 29 halted flights and 387 delays translate into long lines at check in counters, crowded boarding gates and overnight waits in terminal seating areas and nearby hotels. At Beijing Capital and Beijing Daxing, travelers have reported sequences of rolling departure time changes, with flights first pushed back in 30 to 60 minute increments before ultimately being cancelled or “returned to gate” when weather windows closed faster than anticipated.
In Chengdu, the disruptions have been particularly painful for connecting passengers who use the city as a cross country transfer point between China’s prosperous east and the country’s far west and northeast. Late inbound flights from Beijing, Shanghai or coastal cities have missed their connection banks for onward services to secondary destinations. With many of those destinations only served once or twice a day, a single missed connection can mean a 24 hour or longer delay, especially when hotel availability near the airport tightens.
Travelers in Xinjiang are facing a different type of uncertainty. In a region where winter operations are always challenging, the combination of local weather and nationwide knock on effects has led to a pattern of “conditional” departures, where flights are boarded and pushed back only to sit on the tarmac as crews wait for air traffic control clearance. In some cases, flights have been forced to return to stand when departure slots are rescinded or destination airports temporarily close or restrict arrivals. The psychological toll of repeated last minute changes is visible in social media posts from stranded passengers describing hours of uncertainty, limited updates and challenges rebooking onto alternative services.
Why 29 Flights Halted and 387 Delayed Matters More Than the Headline Numbers
On paper, 29 halted flights and 387 delayed services might appear modest relative to the thousands of flights scheduled each day across China’s vast domestic network. Yet the timing, geography and airline mix behind these figures magnify their impact in ways that travelers planning upcoming trips need to understand. First, the disruptions are concentrated on key trunk routes and connecting hubs, which act as critical junctions for long distance journeys across the country. A cancelled or heavily delayed Beijing Chengdu flight, for example, does not exist in isolation: it can strand hundreds of passengers bound for onward links to cities in Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet or Xinjiang.
Second, the disruptions are striking during a season when airlines are already running tight, high utilization schedules to meet winter and early spring travel demand. Carriers including Air China and Sichuan Airlines have been operating many routes at or above pre pandemic capacity, with recent schedule adjustments and route reductions focused more on international destinations such as Japan rather than domestic flows. That leaves fewer spare aircraft to absorb weather related shocks, and less slack to retime flights without creating further knock on effects later in the day.
Finally, the involvement of a regional operator like China Express adds a layer of vulnerability for smaller communities that rely on a limited number of daily flights for business, medical travel and family visits. When one of those flights is halted or significantly delayed, there may be no same day alternative by air or rail. For travelers heading into remote areas, the current disruption highlights the importance of building additional buffer time into itineraries and being prepared for forced overnights if connections unravel.
How This Disruption Could Affect Your Upcoming Travel Plans
If you are scheduled to fly within China or into China through Beijing, Chengdu or a western gateway in the coming days, you should treat this disruption as an early warning rather than an isolated event. Severe winter weather episodes in China often unfold in waves, with initial storms followed by lingering low visibility, icing conditions and capacity restrictions as airports work through backlogs. Even if your travel date falls several days after the initial 29 halted flights and 387 delays, residual imbalances in aircraft and crew positioning can persist.
Travelers booked on Air China should pay particular attention to flights touching Beijing Capital, Beijing Daxing and Chengdu, especially if those flights are part of multi segment itineraries. Where feasible, consider selecting earlier departures in the day, when operational buffers are larger and recovery options more plentiful. Evening and late night flights are more vulnerable, as a delay or cancellation at that stage can easily roll over to the following day’s schedule.
Passengers flying with Sichuan Airlines or China Express on regional or secondary routes should build in additional connection times, especially when moving between hubs and remote cities. A connection that looks comfortable on paper, such as 60 to 90 minutes in Chengdu for a domestic to domestic transfer, may be risky when overall on time performance is under pressure. Whenever possible, opt for longer layovers or, if your schedule allows, overnight stops that reduce the risk of misconnecting and losing your seat on heavily booked onward legs.
Practical Steps to Minimize Disruption and Manage a Delay
While no traveler can control the weather, there are concrete steps you can take to reduce the impact of disruptions of this kind on your own plans. The first is to stay as close as possible to real time information. Airline mobile apps and official WeChat or app based channels for Air China, China Express and Sichuan Airlines typically reflect schedule changes and gate updates sooner than airport departure boards. Enabling push notifications for your specific flight number allows you to react quickly if departure times shift or if a flight status changes from delayed to cancelled.
If you have not yet started your journey and see that your flight is subject to a long delay, consider whether rebooking to a different time or date is a better option than waiting at the airport. During major weather events, airlines sometimes relax change and refund rules on affected routes, particularly when schedules are heavily constrained for safety reasons. Even when formal waivers are not broadly advertised, frontline staff at call centers and ticketing counters may have discretion to move passengers to alternative services without the usual penalties.
For those already at the airport, securing your place in any rebooking queue early is crucial. In busy terminals such as Beijing Capital and Chengdu, lines at airline desks can swell quickly after a wave of cancellations. In many cases, you can simultaneously join a physical queue at the airport while also trying to reach the airline via phone or app based chat, increasing your chances of being confirmed on the next available flight. If an overnight stay becomes unavoidable, ask the airline directly about accommodation options, meal vouchers and ground transportation support; policies differ between carriers and ticket types, but some level of assistance is often available when weather related delays extend late into the night.
Looking Ahead: What This Episode Reveals About China’s Air Travel Resilience
The latest bout of severe weather disruption, while far from the largest China has seen in recent years, underscores both the strengths and the vulnerabilities of the country’s rapidly expanding aviation system. On one hand, the sheer density of domestic routes and the presence of multiple carriers on key city pairs can facilitate relatively rapid recovery once conditions improve. Additional flights can be mounted, larger aircraft substituted and spare capacity on parallel routes tapped to clear backlogs.
On the other hand, the current pattern of 29 halted flights and 387 delays concentrated around major hubs and crucial regional links highlights how tightly wound many airline schedules have become. High aircraft utilization, strong demand and ongoing adjustments to international networks have reduced the operational breathing room that carriers once relied on to absorb shocks. For travelers, that reality translates into a need to recalibrate expectations: while flying in China remains efficient and generally reliable, the margin for error during adverse weather has narrowed.
For now, the best strategy for those planning to travel through Beijing, Chengdu or Xinjiang is vigilance, flexibility and preparation. Monitor your flights closely, allow generous buffers for connections, carry essential items in your hand luggage in case of unexpected overnights, and be ready to adjust your plans at short notice. Severe weather episodes will continue to be a recurring feature of China’s aviation landscape, especially in winter. Understanding how they ripple through the system and how airlines like Air China, China Express and Sichuan Airlines respond will help you navigate future disruptions with more confidence and less stress.