Archive for ‘flight cancellations’

14/08/2019

Hong Kong airport resumes operation after protest-forced halt

HONG KONG, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — The Hong Kong International Airport started to resume operation on Wednesday after chaos and flight cancellations caused by protesters.

Passengers are now able to conduct check-in procedures after tickets or purchase vouchers are checked by airport staff. A demonstration area has been marked out at the arrival hall.

Airport Authority Hong Kong said earlier Wednesday that it has obtained an interim injunction to restrain persons from unlawfully and willfully obstructing or interfering with the proper use of the airport.

The authority emphasized that persons are also restrained from attending or participating in any demonstration or protest or public order event in the airport other than in the area designated by the airport authority.

The interim injunction expressly provides that nothing in the interim injunction shall be construed as authorizing any demonstration, protest or public order event contrary to the Public Order Ordinance.

Many of the passengers, who have their flights delayed or changed, are still waiting at the airport for confirmation of their departure time.

“It was totally chaos last night and those people in black were everywhere. We were very scared,” said Maria, a passenger from the Philippines. “I just hope we can fly on time today.”

“I’m very angry. Some of the protesters said they were sorry but I think they were just having fun here, obstructing us,” said Pia from Germany. “I can’t believe this could be happening in the 21st century.”

“I only wish I can leave Hong Kong safely and go back home,” she said.

As one of the busiest in the world, the Hong Kong International Airport handled an average of 200,000 travelers each day in 2018.

Frank Chan, secretary for transport and housing of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said paralyzing the airport will make Hong Kong “pay a heavy price.”

“Amid fierce regional competition, it is very easy to destroy years of achievements the airport has accomplished, but rebuilding them will be very hard,” Chan said.

Source: Xinhua

11/08/2019

Death toll from typhoon in eastern China rises to 30 as storm moves north

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The death toll from a major typhoon in eastern China rose to 30 on Sunday, with 18 people missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as the country braced for more travel disruptions as the storm moved further north up the coast.

Typhoon Lekima made landfall early on Saturday in the eastern province of Zhejiang with winds gusting to 187 km (116 miles) per hour, causing travel chaos with thousands of flights canceled and rail operations suspended.

The typhoon damaged more than 173,000 hectares of crops and 34,000 homes in Zhejiang, provincial authorities said in estimating the economic losses at 14.57 billion yuan ($2 billion), the state news agency Xinhua said.

Lekima, China’s ninth typhoon of this year, is expected to make a second landing along the coastline in Shandong province, prompting more flight cancellations and the closure of some expressways, Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV said.

In Zhejiang, many of the deaths occurred about 130 km north of the coastal city of Wenzhou, where a natural dam collapsed in an area deluged with 160 mm (6.3 inches) of rain within three hours, causing a landslide, Xinhua reported.

State media reports showed rescuers wading in waist-high waters to evacuate people from their homes, while the Ministry of Emergency Management said that more than one million people in the financial hub of Shanghai, as well as Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, have been evacuated due to the typhoon.

An estimated 3,200 flights were canceled, state broadcaster CCTV reported, although some suspensions on high-speed railway lines were lifted on Sunday.

Source: Reuters

10/08/2019

Typhoon in eastern China causes landslide, killing 18 people

BEIJING (Reuters) – Eighteen people were killed and 14 were missing in eastern China on Saturday in a landslide triggered by a major typhoon, which caused widespread transport disruptions and the evacuation of more than one million people, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Typhoon Lekima made landfall early on Saturday in the eastern province of Zhejiang with maximum winds of 187 km (116 miles) per hour, although it had weakened from its earlier designation as a “super” typhoon, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Thousands of flights were cancelled in eastern China, according to the country’s aviation regulator, with most flights into and out of Shanghai’s two major airports cancelled on Saturday afternoon, their websites showed.

China’s weather bureau on Saturday issued an orange alert, its second highest, after posting a red alert on Friday, when the storm forced flight cancellations in Taiwan and shut markets and businesses on the island.

The deadly landslide occurred about 130 km north of the coastal city of Wenzhou, when a natural dam collapsed in an area deluged with 160 millimetres (6.3 inches) of rain within three hours, CCTV reported.

The storm was moving northward at 15 kph and was gradually weakening, Xinhua reported, citing the weather bureau.

High winds and heavy rains battered the financial hub of Shanghai on Saturday afternoon, and Shanghai Disneyland was shut for the day.

Nearly 200 hundred trains through the city of Jinan in Shandong province had been suspended until Monday, Xinhua reported.

More than 250,000 residents in Shanghai and 800,000 in Zhejiang province had been evacuated due to the typhoon, and 2.72 million households in Zhejiang had power blackouts as strong wind and rain downed electricity transmission lines, state media reported.

Some 200 houses in six cities in Zhejiang had collapsed, and 66,300 hectares (163,830 acres) of farmland had been destroyed, CCTV said.

The storm was predicted to reach Jiangsu province by the early hours of Sunday and veer over the Yellow Sea before continuing north and making landfall again in Shandong province, CCTV said.

Coastal businesses in Zhejiang were shut and the Ministry of Emergency Management warned of potential risk of fire, explosions and toxic gas leaks at chemical parks and oil refineries.

Source: Reuters

09/08/2019

China on red alert as Typhoon Lekima bears down on east coast

A woman shields herself with an umbrella as she walks in New Taipei City in rain brought by Typhoon Lekima as it passes northeastern Taiwan on August 9, 2019Image copyright AFP
Image caption Lekima has brought heavy rain to Taiwan

Chinese authorities have declared a red alert as a powerful typhoon heads towards the eastern coast.

Typhoon Lekima is currently battering Taiwan with winds of more than 190km/h (120mph) and is due to make landfall in China’s Zhejiang province on Saturday.

Emergency teams have been deployed to the region to guide relief work, China’s emergency ministry said.

Thousands of people further up the coast in Shanghai have been warned to prepare to evacuate.

Lekima, which is the ninth typhoon so far this year, strengthened into a super typhoon late on Wednesday, but Taiwanese authorities have since downgraded it to a regular typhoon.

Flood warnings have been issued for eastern sections of China’s Yangtze River and the Yellow River until Wednesday. The provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong are also on alert.

Cruise liners have been told to delay their arrival in Shanghai and some train services have been suspended over the weekend.

Beijing has also cancelled some trains heading to and from the Yangtze delta region.

Lekima is one of two typhoons in the western Pacific at the moment. Further east, Typhoon Krosa is spreading heavy rain across the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. It is moving north-west and could strike Japan some time next week, forecasters said.

Media caption BBC Weather’s Sarah Keith-Lucas on typhoons Lekima and Krosa

Lekima was passing the north of Taiwan on Friday, causing flight cancellations and the closures of schools and offices.

Power was cut to more than 40,000 homes and the island’s high speed rail service was suspended north of the city of Taichung, local media reported.

The huge storm came a day after eastern Taiwan was rattled by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake. Experts said the risks of landslides triggered by the tremor were made more likely by the typhoon dumping up to 900mm (35 inches) of rain on Taiwan’s northern mountains.

Media caption The 6.0 earthquake in Taiwan was caught on cat cam

Lekima also brought heavy rain and high winds to south-west Japan on Friday, cutting power to about 14,000 homes, broadcaster NHK reported.

China’s weather bureau said Lekima was expected to have weakened further by the time it made landfall. The country has a four-stage colour-coded warning system, with red representing the most severe weather.

Source: The BBC

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