SINGAPORE: More than 20 Singapore flights to and from Hong Kong and some southern Chinese cities were cancelled this weekend as Typhoon Noul lashed China’s Guangdong province and neighbouring areas.
Thirteen Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and Hong Kong were cancelled on July 26, according to Changi Airport’s flight information page. The affected flights from Hong Kong to Singapore were CX659, CX691, CX759, CX739, CX791, CX635 and SQ899, while those from Singapore to Hong Kong were CX714, CX710, CX658, CX652, CX734 and CX716.
A day earlier, Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific said flights scheduled to arrive at and depart from Hong Kong International Airport between 1.15am and 6pm on July 26 had been cancelled.
Additionally, eight flights between Shenzhen and Singapore operated by Shenzhen Airlines, China Southern Airlines and SIA were cancelled on July 26. The affected flights from Shenzhen to Singapore were ZH235, ZH239, ZH229, CZ8117, SQ857 and SQ855, while those from Singapore to Shenzhen were ZH236 and ZH230.
Earlier, SIA said it had cancelled flight SQ856, scheduled to depart from Singapore for Shenzhen on July 25.
Two other July 25 flights between Changi Airport and Shenzhen operated by China Southern Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines were also cancelled, while a third was delayed.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, SIA subsidiary and low-cost carrier Scoot said on the evening of July 25 that it had cancelled flights TR128, from Singapore to Shantou, and TR129, from Shantou to Singapore, on July 25.
Flights between Singapore and Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, listed on Changi Airport’s website were not affected by the typhoon.
Noul is the third typhoon to hit China in July and has forced more than 340,000 people in Guangdong province to relocate, local authorities said on July 25.
Hong Kong authorities raised the storm alert to Typhoon Signal No. 9, the second-highest warning level, early on July 26 as the storm passed within 80km of the city, before downgrading it to Signal No. 8 at 7.10am.
The city’s airport authorities said flight operations would gradually resume after 6pm on July 26.- Straits Times/ANN
