Measures ramped up to ensure air travel safety

In response to recent fatal Azerbaijan Airlines and Jeju Air plane crashes, China has ramped up safety measures to ensure the continued safety of the country's civil aviation sector. These measures include enhanced bird strike prevention and comprehensive runway safety inspections, officials from the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Friday.

Shu Mingjiang, chief safety officer at the CAAC, emphasized these efforts during a news conference in Beijing on Friday, while discussing the importance of learning from the recent tragedies.

The announcement of the enhanced measures comes after the two significant accidents raised global concerns about aviation safety. On Dec 25, a passenger plane en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, crashed near Aktau International Airport in western Kazakhstan. Initial reports said the crash, which resulted in the deaths of 38 people, was caused by a bird strike. Azerbaijan's president said the plane had been damaged by accidental shooting from the ground in Russia, Reuters reported.