Hong Kong airport suspends flights for 36 hours due to Typhoon Ragasa

Hong Kong International Airport is preparing for disruption as the city braces for one of the strongest typhoons in years.

According to Qantas Airways, all passenger flights will be suspended for 36 hours, from 8 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) on Sept. 23 until 8 a.m. on Sept. 25. 

The airline said it will contact affected customers.

An Airport Authority Hong Kong spokesperson said preparations are underway for the storm, named Typhoon Ragasa, though no formal announcement of a closure has been made, according to reports. 

Hong Kong’s Observatory said it would issue the lowest typhoon signal at noon on Monday, with plans to raise it to the second-highest alert level later that night between 8 and 10 p.m.

Reuters reports that weather conditions are expected to worsen quickly from Tuesday, with gale- to storm-force winds affecting the city on Wednesday and hurricane-force gusts possible offshore and on higher ground.

Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong’s largest airline, said on Sunday that flights were not yet affected but the situation was being closely monitored. 

Elsewhere in the region, the Philippines suspended work and classes across Metro Manila and northern Luzon on Monday as Ragasa moved closer, bringing the threat of damaging winds and heavy rain.

Super Typhoon Ragasa

Hong Kong scrambled on Tuesday to brace for Super Typhoon Ragasa, as authorities cautioned that the storm posed a “serious threat,” on par with some of the city’s most devastating cyclones in recent memory.

The Hong Kong Observatory reported that Ragasa was packing maximum sustained winds of 220 kilometres per hour near its core while sweeping across the South China Sea early Tuesday.

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