Emirates airline has grounded several flights as Super Typhoon Ragasa barrels towards China.
Thousands of people were evacuated on Monday from the northern Philippines, where at least three people have died and five others are missing, the country’s disaster-response agency and provincial officials said.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has suspended government work and all classes in the capital and 29 provinces in the main northern Luzon region.
Ragasa is heading west and is forecast to remain in the South China Sea at least into Wednesday while passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong before landfall on the Chinese mainland.
Hong Kong's observatory said Super Typhoon Ragasa, which was packing maximum sustained winds near the centre of about 230kph (143mph), is expected to move west-northwest at about 22kph (14mph) across the northern part of the South China Sea and edge closer to the coast of Guangdong province, the southern Chinese economic powerhouse.
Emirates airline
Emirates said on Monday it had cancelled all flights from Dubai to Hong Kong until Thursday, as well as its shuttle service between Hong Kong and Bangkok on Tuesday and Wednesday. Flights between Dubai and the south-eastern Chinese city of Shenzhen are also cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Emirates said on its website that the following services would be grounded in the coming days.
- September 23: EK382 from Dubai to Hong Kong
- September 23: EK383 from Hong Kong to Dubai
- September 23: EK328 from Dubai to Shenzhen
- September 23: EK329 from Shenzhen to Dubai
- September 23: EK380 from Dubai to Hong Kong
- September 23: EK328 from Dubai to Shenzhen
- September 23: EK329 from Shenzhen to Dubai
- September 23 and 24: Flights Shuttle service between Hong Kong and Bangkok will also be cancelled
- September 24: EK382 from Dubai to Hong Kong
- September 24: EK383 from Hong Kong to Dubai
- September 24: EK381 from Hong Kong to Dubai
- September 24: EK380 from Dubai to Hong Kong
- September 25: EK381 from Hong Kong to Dubai
Customers connecting through Dubai with final destinations Hong Kong and Shenzhen will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice, the airline said.
Cathay Pacific
Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific, which operates direct flights to Dubai, said flights arriving at and departing from Hong Kong International Airport will cease operations until Thursday.
“More than 500 flights are currently expected to be cancelled," a spokeswoman for the airline said at a Monday press conference.
The airline is also waiving rebooking, rerouting and refund charges for all flights between September 23 and 25.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways has also cancelled all flights between Doha and Hong Kong, while its cargo services from Doha to Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen are also affected.
"Our teams are actively assisting impacted passengers with rebooking and alternative travel options. We strongly advise all passengers travelling to/from the affected airports to check their flight status on qatarairways.com or the mobile app before heading to the airport," the airline said.
The following Qatar Airways passenger flights have been grounded:
- September 23: QR816 from Doha to Hong Kong
- September 23: QR815 from Hong Kong to Doha
- September 23: QR818 from Doha to Hong Kong
- September 24: QR 817 from Hong Kong to Doha
- September 24: QR816 from Doha to Hong Kong
- September 24: QR815 from Hong Kong to Doha
