Dozens of outbound flights from Hong Kong to Taiwan, mainland China and Japan originally scheduled for later this week have been cancelled due to Super Typhoon Bavi, with some local carriers offering special arrangements for affected passengers.
A South China Morning Post check found that more than 40 flights - operated by Cathay Pacific Airways, HK Express, Hong Kong Airlines and Greater Bay Airlines - had been cancelled and 10 delayed to Sunday. The affected routes span destinations ranging from Taipei to Okinawa.
Cathay Pacific, its budget arm, HK Express, and Hong Kong Airlines have announced that they will waive ticket change fees for affected passengers.
The flight disruptions come as Bavi, named after a mountain range in Vietnam, moves toward the seas east of Taiwan throughout Thursday and Friday. The Hong Kong Observatory said the storm was expected to later approach the coast of eastern China.
The wave of flight cancellations has affected trips to destinations such as Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Zhoushan in mainland China and Okinawa and Ishigaki in Japan. Most of the flights had been scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
The SCMP found that Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay had cancelled 13 flights to Taipei and four flights to Kaohsiung on Saturday.
The airline also cancelled three flights to Taipei - CX402, CX464, CX408 - and two to Okinawa - CX5842 and CX5844 - originally set to depart on Friday.
Meanwhile, HK Express cancelled flights UO842, UO843, UO844 and UO845, all for Okinawa, and delayed two more to the same destination until the next day.
It has also cancelled three flights destined for Taichung on Saturday, comprising UO192, UO102 and UO172, and delayed two flights bound for Ishigaki in Japan - UO858 and UO879 - to the next day.
Hong Kong Airlines cancelled two flights to Okinawa on Friday, alongside four others to the same destination previously set to depart on Saturday. Another four of its flights departing for Taipei on Saturday - HX252, HX254, HX260, and HX282 - were also cancelled.
Greater Bay Airlines also cancelled flight HB710 to Taipei on Friday and flight HB702 to the same destination on Saturday, as well as flight HB2372 to Okinawa on Sunday.
Flight HB866 to Zhoushan in Zhejiang province, set to depart on Saturday, was also cancelled.
Affected Cathay passengers originally flying to Taipei or Kaohsiung from Thursday to Sunday will be able to rebook their tickets before Sunday to flights departing before August 31 without any rebooking or re-routing charges.
The policy only applies to customers who bought their tickets before Wednesday.
HK Express customers whose flights to Taiwan and Japan were cancelled can also change their tickets without paying any rebooking fees and fare differences to a new date within two weeks of the original departure date - provided the tickets were bought before Tuesday.
Affected HK Express customers can also switch destinations within the same region, such as flying to Ishigaki instead of Okinawa and Ishigaki or between the three affected destinations in Taiwan. They may also seek a full refund.
Hong Kong Airlines also announced that it would waive rebooking and re-routing fees, as well as charges linked to refunds, for affected customers.
