Flight operations at Hong Kong Airport are returning to normal after two days of disruptions caused by mass protests.
Large-scale demonstrations against the government had forced the airport to temporarily cancel large parts of its flight schedule on Monday and Tuesday, as thousands of protesters filled both the arrival and departure halls. Check-in activity had been suspended due to the congestion, affecting hundreds of flights.
Meanwhile, a court has issued an injunction order to remove protesters from the airport. It is not clear whether the demonstrations would have continued on Wednesday, or if protesters will show up despite the court’s order.
Cathay Pacific has published a notice, asking customers to postpone non-essential travel to and from Hong Kong Airport on Wednesday, August 14th, and warns that “there is potential for further flight disruptions at short notice“.
Even if no protest is taking place on Wednesday, the previous suspensions of Hong Kong Airport’s departures have caused so much disruption to flight plans of airlines, that continuing delays and cancellations of some flights are likely. Passengers travelling to or from the airport during the next few days are urged to check the status of their flights.
Shareholders of Cathay Pacific have condemned the ‘violent’ protests after the airline’s shares fell to a decade low. Previously, mainland China had warned employees of Cathay Pacific and sister airline Cathay Dragon (formerly Dragonair) to not participate in the anti-government demonstrations.
Almost 75 million passengers travelled through Hong Kong Airport in 2018, making it the eighth busiest airport in the world and the fourth busiest in Asia.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
