Super Typhoon Saola: travellers hoping to fly to and from Hong Kong left stranded as storm draws closer

The Hong Kong Observatory issued a No 8 signal at 2.40am on Friday, with the city’s airport authority saying at least 366 flights had been cancelled and another 40 delayed.

Saola, which is named after a rare and protected horned mammal in Vietnam, was centred about 140km (86.9 miles) east southeast of Hong Kong as of 2pm.

Edwin Bekoe, a former cabin crew from the US, said his flight home from Hong Kong was unaffected by the typhoon and described communication efforts by airport staff as “perfect”.

“Hong Kong is very efficient. It relayed news about the arrival of a typhoon well ahead,” the 64-year-old said. “The message is loud and clear.”

Bekoe said he had travelled to the city to take in the sights but decided to leave two days early as Saola approached, citing his past experience of chaotic flight arrangements amid adverse weather.

As a former United Airlines employee, Bekoe said he had the option to take empty seats on any of the company’s flights. He added that he had asked his hotel to keep his room available for two days, just in case he was unable to fly home immediately.

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Greek traveller George Kiousis described the decision to delay his flight from Seoul to Hong Kong by one hour and 20 minutes as “disastrous”, and left him unable to catch his connecting flight to Doha and another to Athens.

“We have to arrange our own accommodation,” he said, adding that he had already spent the night at Hong Kong’s airport because his flight had arrived at around midnight on Friday.

“Most of the hotels around the area are fully booked,” the 26-year-old shipping industry employee said, expecting he would have to stay up to two nights in Hong Kong before resuming his journey.

Kiousis said he was on a business trip with four colleagues who were all stranded in the city and were unsure whether their luggage had already been flown out with them.

One of his colleagues, 35-year-old Toutsis Meetios said no one at Asiana Airlines was offering any solutions to the group despite numerous calls to the company’s hotline over their cancelled flight.

“The airline didn’t even provide us with a bottle of water, food or a hotel,” Meetios said. “We have been waiting here without any information.”

The group said all they could do was continue waiting for word from airline staff.

Kandice Chan, a 30-year-old corporation communication officer, and her friend were among those waiting to fly back to Hong Kong after spending five days in Seoul.

The duo said their Friday night flight home was cancelled by Korean Air the day before, adding their families had called the company and were verbally offered a journey to Hong Kong on Sunday morning.

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While Chan said she was happy to spend some more time in Seoul, she felt slightly concerned about whether getting home would be a smooth process.

“It’s lucky that we have a two-day buffer. We can visit more places now,” she said.

“But we haven’t received any written confirmation yet. I can only assume that we can come back … Even if I cannot head back on Sunday, I think I can still work remotely or take an extra day off on Monday.”

Chan said she planned to arrive at Incheon airport a few hours before her Sunday flight in case there were any last-minute changes.

She added that she paid out an extra HK$3,000 (US$382) in hotel fees while she waited and was unsure whether she could claim back the expenses.