The Airport Authority has said that Hong Kong International Airport is expected to handle 1,076 flights on Monday, as the airport continues to clear the backlog caused by Typhoon Wipha, which hit the city one day earlier.
“We are confident that stranded travellers affected by the typhoon will basically be handled by tomorrow,” Steven Yiu, the executive director for airport operations at the Airport Authority, said on Monday.
However, a small number of travellers whose flight routes operate only once or twice a week may still have to wait for a replacement flight, he told reporters.
The authority, airlines, and the airport have also deployed additional personnel to serve travellers, Yiu said.
The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted the T10 storm signal at 9.20am on Sunday, as Typhoon Wipha swept the city. It was the first time since September 2023 that the highest storm signal had been raised.
More than 500 flights, affecting 100,000 passengers, were cancelled due to the typhoon on Sunday, Chris Au Young, the Airport Authority’s general manager of terminal and passenger experience, said that afternoon.
See also: Hong Kong sees floods, flights cancelled as Typhoon Wipha prompts T10 signal
The Observatory lowered the warning signal to T8 at 4.10pm on Sunday and to T3 some three hours later, at 7.40pm. All typhoon signals were lifted at 5.10am on Monday.
Au Young said that flights resumed after the storm warning signal was dropped to T8.
While the airport would continue to handle about 400 rescheduled arrivals and departures on Sunday, it would take two to three days to clear the backlog of 500 cancelled flights, he added.
All 27 departure security gates were fully operational to serve passengers overnight.
Yiu said that the airport and its runways were back to normal operational capacity on Monday, while re-allocation of flights would go on into the evening.
He added that the airport’s departure hall was relatively busy in the morning, as it was the peak summer holiday season.
