Chinese airlines haunted by poor punctuality will be forced to reduce flight and operating times, the top civil aviation watchdog said.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) will request that airlines with a flight delay occurrence rate higher than the industry average reduce the number of flights and shorten their operating time, Xia Xinghua, deputy director of the administration, said at a conference on reducing flight delays in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Wednesday.

The CAAC also urged airlines to decrease delays that can be avoided by 10 percent by the end of the year.