350 flights cancelled in Hong Kong as Typhoon Noul hits

A total of 350 flights were cancelled today due to Typhoon Noul. Flight operations have gradually resumed after noon, while high speed rail services resumed at 4pm.

The flight information displays at the airport were all glowing red as a hoard of travellers were waiting for the latest flight information.

Many were anxious about where to go, while others believed they had to stay rational as there was nothing they could do.

The Airport Authority expects to handle 675 flights after the resumption at noon. They reportedly distributed 1,800 electronic taxi queue tickets.

At its peak, there were about 400 people waiting.

By 4am, most of the travellers had successfully left the airport.

The MTR was facing some complications as well, as overhead cables on the MTR East Rail Line near Tai Wo station were damaged by a fallen tree. Services were suspended between Tai Po Market and Fanling stations, but free shuttle buses were arranged.

Repairs were completed at around 2pm and services gradually resumed across the entire line.

Meanwhile, the departure hall at West Kowloon high speed rail station saw a rare empty scene earlier in the day, with all trains before 4pm cancelled. Some travellers chose to wait at the station.

A traveller named Brown said: "I haven't seen any crazy issues and it's been communicated pretty well through the news channels and through WeChat."

Another traveller named Sol said: "We arrived at 9 o'clock so we've been waiting a long time. It's the season for typhoons, we knew but not that it was today."

Ref noted: "It's been really difficult to first get a new train, a new reservation and then getting connections so it's been a huge effect on us. Everyone was very friendly at the terminal and done what they can. We looked at the weather and saw it was going to rain but we didn't expect it to cancel or affect all the travel."

"But a lot of stuff was closed today when we were looking for breakfast, which was a bit confusing because it was just raining," said traveller Max. "I tried looking online and I got guided to a page about the different levels of the typhoon but it didn't really say much about the typhoon, when it's coming, how bad the damage is going to be."

Many tourists have had to rebook their trains to the mainland, unfamiliar with the possible effects a typhoon would have on their travels. Going forward, they hope to see more information available online.