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Lo Hoi-ying

Qatar Airways has cancelled early morning flights from Hong Kong to Doha for two days in a row, with more than 100 passengers affected, amid the conflict between Iran and Israel.
Flight 815, scheduled to depart from Hong Kong for Doha at 1.25am on Tuesday, was cancelled first after Qatar temporarily closed its airspace in anticipation of retaliatory attacks by Iran on a US airbase near the capital. The carrier later cancelled flight 815 on Wednesday, which also had a departure time of 1.25am.
Tuesday’s flight was scheduled to leave just as Qatar closed its airspace to commercial airliners “to ensure the safety of citizens, residents”.
Shortly after the cancellation, news came through that Iran had launched a missile attack on the American Al Udeid Air Base near Doha. No casualties were recorded.
The attack on the biggest American airbase in the Middle East came two days after the US launched massive strikes against three nuclear facilities inside Iran.
Jasper Reed*, one of the affected passengers, said that he saw the news about 30 minutes before the flight started boarding.
“We all started lining up for boarding as the news was coming in about the attack on a US base in Qatar,” he said.
“It was quite surreal to think we might be boarding a flight heading to an active war zone, as nobody was telling us if the flight was cancelled or delayed.”
Passengers were then told to wait for updates, and at around 3.30am, the staff “strongly advised” them to cancel their bookings or book a new flight, Reed said.
He added he had contacted the carrier’s customer service to arrange for a refund as per the airline staff’s instructions, but had not received confirmation yet.
According to footage circulating online, a man was seen confronting ground staff about the flight cancellation, with police officers being called to the scene.
Reed said he witnessed one particular passenger being “quite aggressive” and raising his voice at employees, but said the staff remained calm and tried their best to help.
Reed “frantically” booked another flight to Rome on a Taiwanese airline later on Tuesday.
“I decided to completely avoid a stopover in the Middle East as it’s just too uncertain right now.”
Doha’s Hamad International Airport closed for around eight hours from Monday evening local time to the early hours of Tuesday.
A four-member delegation of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt was affected as the group was supposed to fly into Hong Kong from Doha on Tuesday.
The group was scheduled to sign a deal with the Hong Kong Palace Museum on Wednesday for a special exhibition, titled “Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums”, in late November. The signing ceremony has been postponed to a later date.
In a statement on Tuesday, the carrier said it could “confirm the reinstatement of flights.”
It added that it was “working tirelessly” with government stakeholders and relevant authorities to restore operations as quickly as possible.
“Our focus at this time is to help our passengers reach home or reach their onwards journey safely and smoothly,” it said, adding that it “anticipates significant delays” to its flight schedules.
In response to Post queries, an Airport Authority spokesman said the flight cancellation was confirmed at around 4.30am.
At around 5.30am, the authority received a report that a ground handler had requested police help about a suspected dispute case, and staff were on site to provide support.
“The ground handler subsequently arranged hotel accommodation for affected passengers,” the authority said.
Qatar Airways flight 817, which was scheduled to leave for Doha at 7.45pm on Tuesday, departed punctually. The same flight on Monday was diverted to Bengaluru in India and landed in Doha after a six-hour delay.
*Name changed at interviewee’s request.


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Flight 815, scheduled to depart from Hong Kong for Doha at 1.25am on Tuesday and Wednesday, cancelled


Flight 815, scheduled to depart from Hong Kong for Doha at 1.25am on Tuesday and Wednesday, cancelled.
