Typhoon Vicente that wreaked havoc in Hong Kong throughout last night caused many flights at the airport to be cancelled or delayed. Warning signal number 10 (hurricane), the highest alert, was hoisted at one point. The storm weakened from a severe typhoon to typhoon as it landed on western Guangdong shortly before 0500 and by around 1000, the alert was lowered to number 3 (strong wind), which means businesses and offices are safe to reopen.
At around 0430, Cathay Pacific announced the cancellation of all of its night flights until 0800. New flight times for some of the flights have been annouced on the carrier's website (click here) and other airlines are posting updates on their Facebook pages, such as Korean Air (click here).
But many flights are still being cancelled today, including many Dragonair flights scheduled to depart for China. The airline has made an announcement that its flight operation "continues to be disrupted due to strong and gusty crosswind conditions and availability of ground services in support of flight operations" at the Hong Kong airport. It advises passengers booked on its flights departing on July 24 and 25 to postpone non-essential travel. The airline has promised to waive re-booking, re-routing, cancellation and refund charges for all tickets issued worldwide (irrespective of fare type) on or before July 24 for travel on its flights on July 24 and 25. Updates on Dragonair flights are available at www.dragonair.com.
For updates on all flights at Hong Kong International Airport, visit www.hongkongairport.com.
Reggie Ho
