Hong Kong International airport’s operations are gradually getting back on track, a day after anti-government protesters occupied large swathes of the airport, causing all flights to be cancelled.
In a notice posted on 13 August, the airport authority says that it will “implement flight rescheduling…with flight movements expected to be affected”. It urged passengers to check with their airlines, as well as on its website, on the latest flight information.
On the afternoon of 12 August, the authority cancelled all flights on the grounds that its operations had been “seriously disrupted”. Flights scheduled to depart at 18:00 local time on 12 August, or later, had been cancelled. The cancellation was reported to last till the next morning.
As of 11:00 local time, the airport's website shows that for the whole of 13 August, 345 flights in and out of the city have been cancelled, with a further 22 flights delayed. Cathay Pacific and its unit Cathay Dragon have cancelled nearly 200 flights in and out of Hong Kong, mostly to points within Asia.
The unprecedented shutdown of Hong Kong International airport comes a week after a similar episode of flight cancellations.
On 5 August, the Cathay Pacific group cancelled hundreds of flights in and out of Hong Kong, most of them flights to Asian destinations, while other Asian carriers had also cancelled flights to the city.
Hong Kong has been rocked by protests for the past two months over the government's decision to introduce an unpopular extradition bill. It was later shelved, but protesters have demanded the full withdrawal of the bill and an investigation into the way the political crisis has been handled.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
