Flight and railway operations to resume after typhoon Ampil tapers off
A large number of passengers get stranded at the T2 terminal of the Hongqiao airport around noon on Sunday after their flights are either canceled or rescheduled.
The massive flight cancellations and delays at Shanghai's two airports are expected to make up from late afternoon on Sunday as typhoon Ampil is tapering off after smashing onshore around noon in the city, the airport authority said.
The air traffic control authority scaled down the flight delay alert for the city's Pudong and Hongqiao airports to the third yellow level around 2pm from the top red alert it issued in early morning on Sunday. It expected the takeoff and landing capacity at both airports will resume to 70 percent of normal capacity between 3pm and 6pm. It was only 30 percent in the morning.
Meanwhile, part of the railway operations will also resume after 5pm, according to the railway company.
Shanghai's two airports canceled more than 700 domestic and international flights on Sunday.
By 3pm, a total of 484 flights were ordered to cancel takeoff or landing at the city's Pudong International Airport while 261 flights did so at the Hongqiao airport, the Shanghai Airport Authority said.
Also, over 60 flights were delayed at the Pudong and Hongqiao airports, including 19 flights which were put off for more than four hours.
A large number of passengers have been stranded at the Hongqiao airport around noon. A long line of passengers waited at airlines' counters to change or refund their flight tickets after their flights were either canceled or rescheduled.
Some passengers sit on the ground or luggage to wait for the updated information of their flights at the T2 terminal of the Hongqiao airport around noon on Sunday.
Long lines of passengers wait at airlines' counters to change or refund their flight tickets at the T2 terminal of the Hongqiao airport around noon on Sunday.
A China Eastern Airlines staffer updates the flight information on two boards at the T2 terminal of the Hongqiao airport on Sunday.
"I need to fly to Beijing today to attend a business meeting on Monday, but my China Eastern flight scheduled to take off at 1pm from the Hongqiao airport has been in the delay condition all the time," said Michael Elliott, a local music teacher from United Kingdom.
Mateo Culsak, a traveler from Croatia, had to shuttle to the Pudong airport from Hongqiao Railway Station after both his train and flight to Guilin in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have been canceled.
"I may have to spend another night in Shanghai if the flights from Pudong to Guilin were also influenced by the typhoon," he told Shanghai Daily.
The China Rail Company has suspended operations of all high-speed trains on the Shanghai-Ningbo and the Shanghai-Hangzhou line from 9am to 5pm on Sunday.
At the Hongqiao Railway Station, a large number of passengers waited at the ticket counters for refund or reschedule of their tickets.
Alejandra Varela, a college student from Texas, said she had to cancel all the previous plans she made for travel in Beijing, Xiamen and Qingdao by trains from Shanghai. Varela has just finished a study course in Shanghai.
"I may have to fly to the US from Shanghai directly due to the influence from the typhoon, which is a great pity to me," Varela said.
A large number of passengers wait at the ticket counters to refund or reschedule their tickets at the Hongqiao Railway Station on Sunday.
Many passengers wait at the lounge of Hongqiao Railway Station on Sunday afternoon as part of the railway operations will be restored after 5pm as the influence from the typhoon Ampil weakened.
