The Chinese central government has launched new regulations that will ban passengers from flying on aircraft if they engage in unbecoming social conduct.
The “Opinions Concerning Appropriate Restrictions on Individuals with Severe Credit Losses Boarding Civil Aircraft within a Set Timeframe and the Establishment of a Social Credit System” (关于在一定期限内适当限制特定严重失信人乘坐民用航空器推动社会信用体系建设的意见) jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and China’s civil aviation authority officially came into effect on 1 May.
The Opinions outline 9 forms of behaviour which will see Chinese passengers barred from boarding civilian aircraft, including the wilful spread of false and discomfiting information about aircraft safety, the use of false or altered passenger identification to board planes, as well as the forceful occupation, blocking or striking of ticket counters, safety corridors or plane gateways.
The Opinions also place restrictions on people with severe social credit losses when it comes to train travel, including “individuals who are identified by public security bureaus or train station units as having been responsible for behaviour which severely impacts rail travel safety,” and other people responsible for “severe illegal credit-loss conduct in other areas.”
According to the Opinions such individuals will be barred from occupying seats in the higher-class carriages of trains, including soft berth cars and any seats in G-class high-speed trains.