All flights at Hong Kong International Airport have been cancelled due to a sit-in by antigovernment protestors.
“Airport operations at Hong Kong International Airport have been seriously disrupted, all flights have been cancelled,” the airport said in a statement on its website. “All passengers are advised to leave the terminal buildings as soon as possible. Affected passengers please contact their respective airlines for flight arrangement.”
A number of airlines have issued travel waivers due to the situation:
Passengers on affected Hong Kong Airlines flights can rebook or request a refund on the airline’s travel alerts page.
Customers flying Air Canada August 13 can rebook without penalty, space permitting.
United Airlines is allowing customers scheduled to travel through August 15 to rebook without penalty for travel through August 20, so long as travel is rescheduled in the originally ticketed cabin and between the original city pair.
According to CNN, the airport shutdown is due to a sit-in by thousands of activists in all terminals protesting abuses by the local police. Over the weekend, a series of violent clashes with the police caused an eye injury to one protestor, which has reportedly become a rallying cry.
Protests have been ongoing in Hong Kong for approximately 11 weeks following the introduction of a controversial extradition bill, which has since been suspended. Early last week, the protests also caused a series of flight cancellations and disruptions to the destination’s light rail service.
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