Hong Kong airport cancels flights for rest of Monday amid anti-government protests
Hong Kong airport authorities have cancelled all remaining flights for Monday, after anti-government protesters swamped its main terminal building for a fourth day.
The cancellations mark the biggest economic disruption caused by the protests in the city since they began in early June.
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The airport said operations had been “seriously disrupted as a result of the public assembly at the airport today”.
“All check-in service for departure flights has been suspended. Other than the departure flights that have completed the check-in process and the arrival flights that are already heading to Hong Kong, all other flights have been cancelled for the rest of today.”
Traffic on roads to the airport was very congested and car park spaces were full, the authority said.
News agency AFP reported this morning that more than 5,000 people had flooded the airport, and that China had branded the protests “terrorism”.
The increasingly violent protests have plunged Chinese-ruled Hong Kong into its most serious crisis in decades and presented a serious challenge to Beijing.
The number of protesters has significantly thinned since this morning, after reports that police were considering trying to disperse the crowds. However, hundreds still remain, according to news agencies.
Flights cancelled to and from UK
More than 120 airlines operate more than 1,000 flights to and from Hong Kong every day, making it one of the busiest international airports in the world.
Three carriers run flights to and from Hong Kong from the UK: British Airways (BA), Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific.
Virgin said its flights from Hong Kong were cancelled, while British Airways and Cathay confirmed outbound flights from the airport were affected. However, both Virgin and BA said flights travelling to Hong Kong from London would go ahead as planned.
Virgin said: “We’d like to apologise to our customers for the delay this will cause and advise anyone due to travel from Hong Kong to check our website for the latest information.”
BA said it was offering customers on its two cancelled flights “options to rebook to a different date or to take a full refund”.
Cathay advised customers to” postpone non-essential travel from Hong Kong both today (12 August) and tomorrow (13 August) and should not proceed to the airport”.
Police warn protesters with water cannon
Earlier today, Hong Kong’s police put on a demonstration of an anti-riot water cannon, in a warning to protesters.
Police have never used the cannon since two were bought after pro-democracy protests in 2014. However, Monday’s demonstration involved blasting one at dummy targets at a training facility as tactics on both sides harden.
The police were condemned for heavy-handedness at a press conference by three individuals who said they represented the protesters. The three reiterated a demand for an independent panel to investigate incidents of excessive force.
“It’s not just the water cannon,” said one of the three, Steven Ng, who wore a mask. “The police are continuing to use all sorts of weapons to challenge the bottom line of Hong Kong people with their weapons.”
Over the weekend police shot volleys of tear gas into crowded underground train stations for the first time, and fired bean-bag rounds at close range as demonstrators threw up barricades across the city.
Hong Kong’s flagship airline, Cathay Pacific, also felt the effect of the protest this morning. Its share value tumbled after the airline suspended one of its pilots who had been arrested for taking part in the protests.
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Protests dent Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific said it would bar “overly radical” crew members from working on flights into mainland China.
The move came after Chinese authorities said Cathay Pacific suspend staff who have been involved in the long-running Hong Kong protests.
The pilot’s suspension marks the extension of the febrile political atmosphere in the autonomous city into company boardrooms.
Main image: Getty