China’s highly regulated airspace is set to be opened to allow for the development of new air traffic routes for commercial flights, possibly resulting in fewer delays at airports.

The air traffic management bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced the formation of ten new air routes over the next three to five years. These routes include some between Beijing and Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, and Guangzhou and Shanghai.

With much of the country’s airspace reserved for military use, commercial flights have been relegated to a lower priority despite China having become the second-largest market for commercial air travel in the world.

Director of the CAAC  air traffic management bureau Che Jinjun emphasized the need to develop new routes for commercial air traffic. “By 2013, there were about half the amount of commercial flights in China as there were in the United States,” said Che, “but the amount of space available in China is only a third of what’s available in the US, and there are only half the number of air traffic controllers as there are in the US.”

China’s airports are notorious for delays. Last July, a number of scheduled commercial flights were either cancelled or delayed when China’s military conducted air drills. Smog has also been a factor in delaying or even cancelling certain flights.  According to a recent survey by FlightStats, China’s airports and airlines have more flight delays than anywhere else in the world.

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