889

Yes, but December is a long ways away by recent Hong Kong standards. As said before here, there are elections scheduled in late November and especially if they are cancelled -- some believe the pro-Government candidates wouldn't do that well under under current conditions -- there will be problems in the streets.

For the past few weeks the airport has not been a target. Perhaps that will hold, perhaps not. Nobody knows.

EDIT: While on Monday Oct 14 the Airport Express was scheduled to run only between HK Station and the airport after 10pm, in fact service on the line was suddenly suspended without advance notice at 10pm "as a prudent measure" due to police activity in Central. This is why it's really hard to predict the situation an hour or two in advance much less weeks.

bobbytables

I fly in and out of the airport every few days. No disruptions. FYI you usually need to show proof of your flight to enter the airport.

jetplane86

Have inbound flights over the weekend been affected at all? I know a lot of the protests have happened over the weekend. I will be connecting at HKG next Saturday evening and don't plan to leave the airport. Unfortunately, the flights are on two different tickets so I do plan to have some buffer but I also don't want to be in transit for more than 4 hours.

bobbytables

While anything is possible, you really have nothing to worry about. Apart from the high-profile incident in August where flights were cancelled, which hasn't been repeated in the last couple of months, the impact on the airport is limited to a bit of extra security, and some disruptions to the Airport Express (e.g. not stopping at Kowloon, or sometimes not running at all), the latter of which obviously doesn't impact transit at all. In transit you almost certainly won't even notice anything different (apart from maybe a quieter airport than usual - fear is much more contagious than reason!).

jetplane86

Thanks that's very helpful. I guess the disruptions have been exaggerated in the media quite a bit.

helvetic

Seriously exaggerated. Very few reasons to worry.

TravelLawyer

Is the Sunny Bay MTR Line to Disneyland operating normally (not including the 10 pm nightly shutdown)?

PattonsMom

My family and I rode the MTR from Disneyland to Sunny Bay and continued onward to Kowloon yesterday. Business as usual. Disneyland HK was very light.

Not seeing any of the protests in the usual tourist areas or in the Tsim Sha Tsui East areas. Everyone says this is a good time to go.

889

"As for the next few days, on Wednesday Carrie Lam will be making her annual policy address before Legco. There's always a risk she'll say something that incites anger."

In fact, she said almost nothing because heckling by opposition legislators forced her to leave. This could re-focus the demonstrations in coming days to driving her from office as well.

EDIT: There have been calls for a march Sunday afternoon October 20 from TST to W Kowloon, so best to avoid that area then.

FURTHER: On Friday the Police refused to issue a permit for the Sunday march, so it will be an illegal gathering if it proceeds. More reason to avoid the area.

SQwarrior

Thanks!

889

The MTR this morning -- Sunday -- announced that TST and Austin stations will close at noon, and various crowd control measures are in place around W Kowloon station. Also reports of shops closing around TST today. Would not be surprising if there are further MTR closings in Kowloon as the day progresses. A very good day to remain HK side.

Up until today, I don't think HSR services have been affected by events. But several HSR trains today Sunday have been cancelled due to "signal problems." As well, access to W Kowloon station has been blocked to those not holding tickets, and sale of tickets at the station has been halted. This is posing serious problems to those just showing up at the station expecting to head north.

As well, since 1pm the Airport Express has been stopping only at Airport and Hong Kong stations.

whughes3

I can confirm that TST station is closed this afternoon: I travelled Central->Jordan at about 1:30 and we did not stop at TST. When I got to Jordan, the exit I usually use (to Nathan Rd) was closed; when I finally made my way to Nathan Rd I found myself in a mass of people wearing black heading south; I made my way to my hotel asap and may well stay here for the rest of the day!

889

Very wise.

The police are starting to fire tear gas.

More stations are being closed -- Yau Ma Tei and East TST -- but no sense keeping track of further closures. Just stay inside if you're in the area.

(For those not in HK, this is at 3:30 in the afternoon, much earlier than most previous problems.)

joe_miami

Well, I’m staying in Mongkok but I’m on a day trip to Macao, so further updates would be appreciated. Thanks.

889

Just assume you will not be able to use the MTR or buses and make alternate arrangements.

That is, after arriving at the HK ferry terminal take the Star Ferry across to TST and walk. Or better take a ferry from Macau to the China Ferry Terminal in TST and walk from there, if there are still sailings when you leave.

Taxis of course are a possibility, but they'll probably be reluctant to head into Mongkok if there are serious problems ongoing. Maybe you offer for him to take you just as close as he feels is safe.

Best might be follow the situation closely and if tensions increase at nightfall just stay in Macau or come back by an after-midnight ferry from Macau.

Another thought: while buses up Nathan Road are certainly not running, you might be able to take any bus going through the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, get off at the first stop after the tunnel, and walk from there.

Problems can be very local, as well. Before heading back you probably should call the front desk of your hotel and ask for advice on the current situation.

EDIT: In case there was any doubt where this was leading, service on the Tsuen Wan line is being suspended from Central to Lai King (according to SCMP, though it's not reflected yet on the MTR site).

At this moment, you may still be able to take the Tung Chung line from Hong Kong Station to Kowloon or Olympic. This may be your best bet.