Thousands throng Hong Kong airport to catch flights delayed by Typhoon Wipha
At around 6.45am on Monday, nearly two hours after the Observatory lifted all tropical cyclone warning signals, there was a serious jam on Airport Road on the stretch from Chek Lap Kok Fire Station to Terminal 1. It prompted some cabbies to divert to Regal Airport Hotel to drop their passengers off there instead.
The Transport Department also warned of heavy traffic near the Hong Kong International Airport, calling on motorists to use the drop-off area at car park 1. It reminded members of the public to allow sufficient time for their journey, or consider taking the Airport Express and buses instead.
Hong Kong International Airport is dealing with a backlog of 500 cancelled flights affecting about 100,000 passengers following the departure of Typhoon Wipha.
The Airport Authority earlier said that about 400 rescheduled flights would either depart or arrive in Hong Kong later on Sunday and that it would take two or three days for airlines to gradually resume all the cancelled flights.
Inside the terminal, long queues formed at airline check-in counters as anxious travellers, many arriving hours before the scheduled time of their flights.
The airport also broadcast announcements, urging passengers who had completed their check-in procedures to move on to security screening, as there was a large accumulation of travellers in the departure area.
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