480 Hong Kong flights to resume as effects of Typhoon Saola wane, first planes in and out of city from around 11am

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority on Saturday said about 480 flights would resume as the effects of Typhoon Saola waned, with the first planes departing and landing in the city at around 11am.

Authority spokesman Chapman Fong Shui-man said: “Under our flight reassignment mechanism, we will resume about 480 flights. Tonight, both of our runways will maintain operations, so airlines will have sufficient capacity to resume and add flights.

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“We predict that the first flight departing Hong Kong would be at 11.15am and the first flight arriving would be around 11.00am,” Fong added.

The authority said it had cancelled 460 flights on Friday as Typhoon Saola approached, with some 300 passengers stranded at the airport. The Observatory on Saturday morning downgraded the highest T10 warning signal to T8, with the latter to remain in force till at least 4pm.

The city’s major carriers also gave details on flight resumptions on Saturday morning.

Walter Li Chun-ting, head of Cathay Pacific’s airport operations in Hong Kong, said CX139 to Sydney would be the carrier’s first flight out of the city close to noon.

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Noting the large number of passengers stranded in Hong Kong, particularly those headed to the United Kingdom and Canada, Cathay said it would add one additional flight for each destination.

Hong Kong Airlines said it would resume operations for 40 flights in the afternoon.

Budget carrier HK Express, meanwhile, said it would resume flights from 2pm, with additional trips planned for Sunday to meet demand.

But Greater Bay Airlines said its departing flights would still be cancelled or postponed because of the weather, predicting incoming flights would land later on Saturday as the storm inched away.

Ambrose Ng Wah-chiu, general manager of ground services for the airline, said all flights in and out of the city would gradually resume on Sunday.