Hong Kong airport clears 1,500-flight backlog; operations back to normal on Tuesday
Airport Authority says staff carried out round-the-clock effort, together with public transport operators, to swiftly clear backlog
Hong Kong airport has cleared a backlog of 1,500 flights disrupted by Typhoon Wipha in the past two days, with thousands of passengers heading in and out of its terminals through taxis and rail, and operations are set to return to normal on Tuesday.
The Airport Authority said on Monday that the backlog of flights and passengers was cleared after an around-the-clock operation, as Wipha moved away from the city following its onslaught on the city the previous day.
The forecaster issued the maximum No 10 signal for the first time in two years on Sunday.
“The airport faced great challenges as the storm hit us directly during the peak season of summer travel,” authority executive director Steven Yiu Siu-chung said.
He also applauded the airport’s coordination efforts with various departments and organisations such as airlines, taxi trade, the MTR Corporation and extra airport manpower, which led to a fast post-storm resumption of flight operations.
In the past two days, 4,000 tickets were issued for passengers queuing up indoors for taxis while the MTR Corp promptly resumed and increased the frequency of its Airport Express service. The tickets were issued to tell passengers the waiting duration.