The scheduling and turnaround time is the correct reason.

Planes are scheduled to depart and arrive on time: planes, in China, will wait for VIP passengers and thus delay their departure which in turn delays their position for take off with the ATC.

The arrival at the destination will be late, which means gate allocation, luggage handling and other ground-work (refueling, catering, routine maintenance, etc) will be delayed. Which means subsequent departures and arrivals for the same aircraft will be affected.

Protip: always book the first flight in the morning. The aircraft will already be there and ready for boarding. Be prepared for delays during celebratory times (May 1st and October 1st) and during "heightened political tensions" involving anything close to China's mainland as the airspace is first and foremost controlled by the military.

Oh! And one particular carrier is known for scheduling extremely tight turnaround times (deplaning, cleaning, cargo-offloading and loading, refueling, etc.) The minimum time for a 737 should be 110 minutes, but this carrier (which shall remain nameless because of insider knowledge) is estimated at 45 minutes.

Not every, you are a bit bragging about the flights. I have traveled through China Southern Airlines three times and one of the flight was delayed 10 minutes and the rest two were on time. At lest negate these two flights from your every.

I recalled it was something to do with military control of the airspace.

I googled it and got this:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/china-air-traffic-congestion-wo...

Only 20% of airspace is allocated to civilian traffic. The military hogs the rest.

ScotsAlan has it, the pretty much the best reason why. However, Cathay and dragon air are really good, topnotch airlines. Never take air china, every flight I've had has delays due to maintenance ie, engine problems.

Scotallan is pretty spot on (sorry could not open your link, Internet cops at it again? ) although not ALL flights are delayed, but gee..many are.

I read that e.g. in USA 20% of airspace is controlled by military, whereas in China its 80% !

Was lucky enough to teach a 42yr old pilot here in QD who confirmed all this & whats more, as he said,  the airlines often get very little warning of the 'shutdown'.

But bear the angst from the passengers!

Hey ~ if you went to a high priced restaurant & your food was 'delayed' by 5mins then 15 mins 25mins etc Wouldn't you say something and demand an explanation? I dont se the difference, plane travel isnt cheap. You do expect a service you paid for.

Also, why do the airlines treat us like f*$#k idiots when there is a delay??

My theory is, having lived here for some years, ....wearing a shitty uniform entitles you treat everyone else as scum!?

In all aspects of life here it seems THAT uniform is all important.

NOT where I come from (Aust) we dont give a flying f^&%$K ! 

Just give us a reasonable explanation, if not.... DONT LIE to me

I read somewhere that China has like the WORST record of keeping flights on time in the entire WORLD. If not the worst, than damn near the bottom and on par with countries that barely even know what a plane is... 

I have been pretty lucky in China, only a few have been delayed. I would prefer they just tell the truth so people can maybe go get a bite to eat or a drink or something... instead of saying... 5 minutes or delayed. 

I remember one time the plane was delayed was clearly for some "VIP" passengers. You should have seen the looks they received when they got on the plane from the other occupants... if looks could kill... those people would have suffered a million deaths.

Like everything in China, the airspace is the playground of various bureaucrats, in this case related the Chinese Air Force (the air force is also responsible for transportation of top government bureaucrats). One time I was flying from Hong Kong to Shanghai on a Friday afternoon (usually one of the busiest air travel times during a week) and the Air Force suddenly closed the air space above Shanghai. The Dragon Air crew were brilliant in taking care of us, and you could hear the American pilot over the PA sounded pissed about this. 

Shanghai Pudong is a huge airport with 4 runways and lots and lots of parking space for aircraft, there is no reason for it to be as delay-prone as it is.

Also, Chinese planes are scared of the rain... I've found that the worse the weather, the less likely they are to be on time.

My international flight was FOUR HOURS delayed... which meant I not only missed my scheduled connection, but also the one they rescheduled, AND the one after that! Fortunately, I got the 5 star hotel for free (too bad the food vouchers didn't even cover the cheapest thing on the menu :( ), and flew out on the same time flight the next day... so nice little stop-over in HK.

Like the above mentioned, no answers! The girl at the flight counter knew nothing, the woman who came down from the airline knew nothing... and figuring I'd have better luck doing things myself, I rang AirNZ (who I booked the flight through). I ended up giving my phone to the airline woman, who chatted away in Chinese for about 5mins, and then told me to speak to the HK staff when we got there.  Thinking "what a cop out", I got to HK to be told everything had been taken care of. So, not only did we get lied to about times and other crap, but even in the solution, complete lack of giving a damn!

It usually all goes fine in the morning and then BAM afternoon nap

Sanya is the national showcase. If you want to leave Phoenix airport before dark, just book a midday flight.

I recommend you to visit http://www.refund.me/en/

They are expert on this and the cost is so low. I claimed with them and I'd do it again.

Flights are delayed in every country. 

To quote another poster, but is that an accurate statement?