Airport operations 'back to normal' after Wipha wait
More than 230 flights departed and arrived between Sunday night and Monday morning after Typhoon Wipha moved away from the SAR. Photo: RTHK
Thousands gathered at the airport on Monday morning to check in for flights after Typhoon Wipha led to the cancellation of 500 flights and another 400 being rescheduled.
A passenger, Wong, told RTHK that her flight to Yonago, Japan, was delayed for a day but that arrangements made by the airline were acceptable.
"I think the arrangements are pretty good, it's better for them to delay it rather than cancel. It's a bit annoying for us since we rented a car and we have to cancel our hotel booking for one night," she said.
"We had the same experience before: there was also a typhoon, and our flight was also delayed for a day.
"So this time, we thought we might just wait and see how it turns out, and it was fine at the end."
Another man, Cheung, echoed Wong's sentiments.
"The delay shortened our holiday for a day, but I think it's alright, we just have to change our itinerary for a bit," he said.
"I think the airline's arrangements were okay: they didn't need us to come to the airport and wait for days. I could just search for the flight information at home."
However, a Shanghai tourist, Bao, who was transferring to Sydney through Hong Kong, said arrangements were poor.
"It was horrible. I have been taking flights for over 20 years, and this time is the worst," he said.
"I got here from Shanghai after staff at Shanghai said the Hong Kong side would make arrangements as a result of our delayed flight.
"I arrived here at midnight, and I missed my connection.
"I can understand that it's because of the typhoon, but no one arranged anything for us afterwards.
"A staff member kept saying it's not their problem and that we had to deal with it ourselves.
"He didn't help us out with rescheduling, or booking a hotel, he just ran away."
The Airport Authority's executive director, Steven Yiu, said more than 1,000 flights would be scheduled for Monday and that operations remained smooth.
"We are still using the flight rescheduling control system, and the system will run until midnight today," he said.
"But the capacity of our runway and operations have returned to normal levels.
"We will slowly shut down our flight rescheduling control system. As for stranded passengers, it won't be zero, but the number is relatively low, as some flights only operate once or twice a week."
The authority said earlier that more than 230 flights departed and arrived between Sunday night and Monday morning after Typhoon Wipha moved away from the SAR.
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