In Depth: Infrequent Flying Snarls Civil Aviation Sector

(Beijing) -- Getting away for a little surf and sand ought to be easy for Beijingers like Mr. Wang who recently boarded one of the daily, four-hour flights that link the capital and sub-tropical Hainan Island in China's far south.

But airport delays seriously complicated Wang's trip, leaving him frazzled after a 30-hour slog to the Hainan resort city of Sanya.