Nightmare at HKG
Jul 7, 2001, 4:00 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,347
Nightmare at HKG
I have been watching the HK TVB satellite news for the past few days. HKG was in a diastrous stage. It could be described as "refugee camps" with passengers falling sick, sleeping in the floor, and many angry ones.
Many passengers report that they did not eat for seven to eight hours. I felt bad for those folks flying the Mainland Chinese carrier.
I felt really bad for the ground staff. A Dutch man was arrested after he yelled at the ground staff and called them "stupid" and made other degrading comments. But he had been stuck in HK for two days. His flight to Amsterdam is still not off.
With the advance of cellular phones, there were live conversations between reporters and passengers who were stuck on the plane for seven hours. A CX 5pm flight from HKG to TPE had been on the ground for seven hours. They were all boarded but were not allowed to deplane.
From the TV images, the airports were filled with planes and there was not enough parking spaces. I saw a couple CX flights parked in the cargo area and passengers had to deplane the "Kai Tak" way.
Any unfortunate FT talkers happen to fly into HKG and can report on the nightmare.
Now questions --
Should HKG airport be completely closed during a typhoon season? Will it be better if the passengers stayed at home?
I personally think that HK CLK airport should never claim that it can operate twenty four hours a day under all kinds of situations. Maybe it is better to close the airport than to see passengers sleeping on the floor the whole evening and battling with the ground agens. I think some airlines need to think of a weather contingency plan. Putting them on the regal airport hotel is not possible because there is only limited amoung of rooms available. If they need to stay at the restricted area, the airlines need to give them some food, blankets, and pillows. Maybe it is time to set up a way for the passengers to head up to the departure level for food access.
Carfield
Many passengers report that they did not eat for seven to eight hours. I felt bad for those folks flying the Mainland Chinese carrier.
I felt really bad for the ground staff. A Dutch man was arrested after he yelled at the ground staff and called them "stupid" and made other degrading comments. But he had been stuck in HK for two days. His flight to Amsterdam is still not off.
With the advance of cellular phones, there were live conversations between reporters and passengers who were stuck on the plane for seven hours. A CX 5pm flight from HKG to TPE had been on the ground for seven hours. They were all boarded but were not allowed to deplane.
From the TV images, the airports were filled with planes and there was not enough parking spaces. I saw a couple CX flights parked in the cargo area and passengers had to deplane the "Kai Tak" way.
Any unfortunate FT talkers happen to fly into HKG and can report on the nightmare.
Now questions --
Should HKG airport be completely closed during a typhoon season? Will it be better if the passengers stayed at home?
I personally think that HK CLK airport should never claim that it can operate twenty four hours a day under all kinds of situations. Maybe it is better to close the airport than to see passengers sleeping on the floor the whole evening and battling with the ground agens. I think some airlines need to think of a weather contingency plan. Putting them on the regal airport hotel is not possible because there is only limited amoung of rooms available. If they need to stay at the restricted area, the airlines need to give them some food, blankets, and pillows. Maybe it is time to set up a way for the passengers to head up to the departure level for food access.
Carfield
Jul 7, 2001, 8:43 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: HKG/HND/OOL
Programs: QF Emerald. SQ Gold.
Posts: 3,170
Carfield,
The problem is, many of those passengers did not check their flight status and arrive at the airport. Many of them, who has passed the immigration control, are not allowed to re-enter HK, and that's the image of such "refugee camp" you have seen. Well, but I would ask, why did those passengers checked in, or even go pass immigration when they KNEW that the flight was cancelled in the first place?
And, if the airport is to be closed, where will all those passengers stay the night? Many of them do not have extra hotel reservation, so they are forced to remain at the airport, simply because they have no where else to go. Now, if the airport is closed, then the result will be even uglier.
On the other hand, the situation has got much better today. The typhoon is gone, and the airport once again is operating rather normally.
Needless to say, CX's industrial action played some role in this congestion, as more than half of the passenger fly on CX, who depart from HKG.
The problem is, many of those passengers did not check their flight status and arrive at the airport. Many of them, who has passed the immigration control, are not allowed to re-enter HK, and that's the image of such "refugee camp" you have seen. Well, but I would ask, why did those passengers checked in, or even go pass immigration when they KNEW that the flight was cancelled in the first place?
And, if the airport is to be closed, where will all those passengers stay the night? Many of them do not have extra hotel reservation, so they are forced to remain at the airport, simply because they have no where else to go. Now, if the airport is closed, then the result will be even uglier.
On the other hand, the situation has got much better today. The typhoon is gone, and the airport once again is operating rather normally.
Needless to say, CX's industrial action played some role in this congestion, as more than half of the passenger fly on CX, who depart from HKG.
Jul 7, 2001, 11:22 pm
#3
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Join Date: May 2000
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I beg to differ, fakecd! I am one of the many who knew the situation, checked for flight times for myself and my niece who was travelling out on Friday , and we were given runaround answers!
My niece was due to fly out on the Malaysia Airlines on Friday. She was also booked on Cathay Pacific. We called Cathay, and the reservations department couldn't tell us if the flight was leaving on time. We called Malaysia Airlines and encountered the same problem. Thankfully we decided to let her take the Malaysia Airlines in the end as the flight originated from KUL and thus was relatively unaffected by the flight backlogs.
I was in Hangzhou, China. My Dragonair flight was to depart on Saturday at 2.30pm. I checked with Dragonair at 12.30pm and was told that the flight was delayed till 6pm BUT we still must check in at the airport by 2pm because the counter will be closed after that. At the departure lounge, in a very hot and stuffy airport, (the so-called First Class lounge was even more air-less and hot), we were then told that the flight would be further delayed till 940pm. Of course by that time, pandemodium broke out. As we are in China, it wasn't so easy as to just turn around and go back into the city. BUt eventually, DragonAir relented and chartered buses to take all of us back to the Holiday Inn for a rest and a meal. Still, people rushed onto buses, pushing and shoving women and children along the way. We even witnessed an almost fistfight between a man and a woman. The man shoved the woman out of the way onto the bus, and the woman pushed him away, and profanities ensured... and the man spit into her face. (I'm soooo embarrassed to be Chinese, but that's another story).
At the hotel, we were then told that the flight would be further delayed till 11.30pm. And that we will be told only when the flight has left HongKong.
We were only told to gather at the lobby of the hotel by 920pm. Then we were bussed back to the airport. The DragonAir flight arrived into HK at 11pm...so we finally left at midnight. All J class passengers were upgraded to First Class. Nice seats but Business Class catering only. Then at the gate, another pandemodium as we Business Class passengers were given the 'Evil Eyes' by the other passengers for having to be able to board first.
We finally arrived into HK at 2am. 10 hours behind schedule. And parked at Gate 70! We still had to wait for the ground crew to get there - as get this, the travelators had stopped working as they were all on timers, and no one could figure out how to start them ! So we had to trudge through the length of the "Y" arm of the terminal of the airport. Similarly the Transfer train to the main terminal was packed... and still only two cars per train. You can imagine what it was like! DragonAir did not offer land transportation ... maybe they did, but we had arranged transportation among ourselves. The airport looked like a war zone. Certainly it did not look like HK airport could handle emergency situations like the past few days. I think Singapore Changi would have done better.
Ground staff looked sooo tired, I felt so sorry for them. Even so, at 2am, the immigration lines were just as long and just as slow. There were no extra immigration officers, and the lines snaked through the arrival halls.
I made it. Now I wonder what's the situation going to be like one week from now when I leave.
Cathay Pacific has been keeping mum about the situation. In the local papers in HK, they have said that they are asking local travel agents to stop all bookings to places in North America, Europe and some regional places. When I called the Marco Polo Club to ask about some award bookings, I simply stated the fact that I wonder when Cathay would release the 'blocking of seats' again. The Marco Polo agent did not even know that CX was doing that and kept insisting that flights were just 'full' and that I could waitlist. Even if I tried to ask her to check all flights for USA and Canada between now and July 20, and didn't she think strange that all flights were 'full'. She just insisted that the flights were just 'normal' as it is the 'busy season'. Even after she checked London, and various European flights, that all flights were 'full', she still did not get it... she still insisted that I can waitlist .... HELLO????
[This message has been edited by Guy Betsy (edited 07-07-2001).]
My niece was due to fly out on the Malaysia Airlines on Friday. She was also booked on Cathay Pacific. We called Cathay, and the reservations department couldn't tell us if the flight was leaving on time. We called Malaysia Airlines and encountered the same problem. Thankfully we decided to let her take the Malaysia Airlines in the end as the flight originated from KUL and thus was relatively unaffected by the flight backlogs.
I was in Hangzhou, China. My Dragonair flight was to depart on Saturday at 2.30pm. I checked with Dragonair at 12.30pm and was told that the flight was delayed till 6pm BUT we still must check in at the airport by 2pm because the counter will be closed after that. At the departure lounge, in a very hot and stuffy airport, (the so-called First Class lounge was even more air-less and hot), we were then told that the flight would be further delayed till 940pm. Of course by that time, pandemodium broke out. As we are in China, it wasn't so easy as to just turn around and go back into the city. BUt eventually, DragonAir relented and chartered buses to take all of us back to the Holiday Inn for a rest and a meal. Still, people rushed onto buses, pushing and shoving women and children along the way. We even witnessed an almost fistfight between a man and a woman. The man shoved the woman out of the way onto the bus, and the woman pushed him away, and profanities ensured... and the man spit into her face. (I'm soooo embarrassed to be Chinese, but that's another story).
At the hotel, we were then told that the flight would be further delayed till 11.30pm. And that we will be told only when the flight has left HongKong.
We were only told to gather at the lobby of the hotel by 920pm. Then we were bussed back to the airport. The DragonAir flight arrived into HK at 11pm...so we finally left at midnight. All J class passengers were upgraded to First Class. Nice seats but Business Class catering only. Then at the gate, another pandemodium as we Business Class passengers were given the 'Evil Eyes' by the other passengers for having to be able to board first.
We finally arrived into HK at 2am. 10 hours behind schedule. And parked at Gate 70! We still had to wait for the ground crew to get there - as get this, the travelators had stopped working as they were all on timers, and no one could figure out how to start them ! So we had to trudge through the length of the "Y" arm of the terminal of the airport. Similarly the Transfer train to the main terminal was packed... and still only two cars per train. You can imagine what it was like! DragonAir did not offer land transportation ... maybe they did, but we had arranged transportation among ourselves. The airport looked like a war zone. Certainly it did not look like HK airport could handle emergency situations like the past few days. I think Singapore Changi would have done better.
Ground staff looked sooo tired, I felt so sorry for them. Even so, at 2am, the immigration lines were just as long and just as slow. There were no extra immigration officers, and the lines snaked through the arrival halls.
I made it. Now I wonder what's the situation going to be like one week from now when I leave.
Cathay Pacific has been keeping mum about the situation. In the local papers in HK, they have said that they are asking local travel agents to stop all bookings to places in North America, Europe and some regional places. When I called the Marco Polo Club to ask about some award bookings, I simply stated the fact that I wonder when Cathay would release the 'blocking of seats' again. The Marco Polo agent did not even know that CX was doing that and kept insisting that flights were just 'full' and that I could waitlist. Even if I tried to ask her to check all flights for USA and Canada between now and July 20, and didn't she think strange that all flights were 'full'. She just insisted that the flights were just 'normal' as it is the 'busy season'. Even after she checked London, and various European flights, that all flights were 'full', she still did not get it... she still insisted that I can waitlist .... HELLO????
[This message has been edited by Guy Betsy (edited 07-07-2001).]
Jul 8, 2001, 8:53 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: HKG/HND/OOL
Programs: QF Emerald. SQ Gold.
Posts: 3,170
Guy Betsy:
I'm very sorried to hear your experience, and I'm sympathetic to those who were stranded at the airport. I have watched and heared about HKG chaos, but I was not there to experience it myself so your comment is truly appreciated. But look on the bright side, when you return, things should be much better
Just to add a comment, I can't quite say if this has got to do with HK airport itself. We have to remember this typhoon was really big, and unusual numbers of flights were cancelled. The CX mess, of course was contributing factor. Although I wished the airport authority could have handled the situation in a more seamless manner, I'm sure they learnt good lesson from this time.
I'm very sorried to hear your experience, and I'm sympathetic to those who were stranded at the airport. I have watched and heared about HKG chaos, but I was not there to experience it myself so your comment is truly appreciated. But look on the bright side, when you return, things should be much better
Just to add a comment, I can't quite say if this has got to do with HK airport itself. We have to remember this typhoon was really big, and unusual numbers of flights were cancelled. The CX mess, of course was contributing factor. Although I wished the airport authority could have handled the situation in a more seamless manner, I'm sure they learnt good lesson from this time.
Jul 8, 2001, 10:46 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: ey class
Posts: 258
i guess the one to blame here is the royal observatory. they issued the number eight typhoon warning at the wrong time. when they upgraded it to the number 8, the weather at the airport was just overcast, no wind whatsoever. this continued until late friday evening, 7-8 hours AFTER the observatory lowered the signal 8 to a number 3. then the rain and wind came. some of my colleagues were blown off their vehicles when towing aircrafts around the airport. flights inbound were waiting at the taxiway because of no parking bays. when they did get an outer bay, they could not disembark because of the strong winds. passengers were 'dying' on the aircraft for at least 4-5 hours before they could disembark.
if the royal observatory did not upgrade the number 8 until later in the evening, this whole 'nightmare at hkg' would not be as bad. flight would have left, parking bays would have been free, and fewer angry passengers.
as for closing of the airport, this is hard to say. when a typhoon approaches, and a number 8 is hoisted, ATC will notify the wind speed and a microburst warning to all inbound flights. the landing is decided by the agreement of the flight crew. this applies to departing flights as well and they will take off if the flight crew thinks it's within the companies limits, as stated in the operating manuals.
what made the matter worse was that tpe and khh did not accept any flights due to the weather there.
if the royal observatory did not upgrade the number 8 until later in the evening, this whole 'nightmare at hkg' would not be as bad. flight would have left, parking bays would have been free, and fewer angry passengers.
as for closing of the airport, this is hard to say. when a typhoon approaches, and a number 8 is hoisted, ATC will notify the wind speed and a microburst warning to all inbound flights. the landing is decided by the agreement of the flight crew. this applies to departing flights as well and they will take off if the flight crew thinks it's within the companies limits, as stated in the operating manuals.
what made the matter worse was that tpe and khh did not accept any flights due to the weather there.