Hong Kong airport disruptions due protest

Yossarian22 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:13 am

From following the #antielab on Twitter, it appears the Airport is shut again.

The protesters are violating the human rights of those who wish to travel. Preventing me from exiting the country is a violation of my human rights.

qf789 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:27 am

Checkin at HKG is no longer available, currently suspended

https://twitter.com/JournoDannyAero/sta ... 77920?s=20

AA100 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:29 am

Yossarian22 wrote:
From following the #antielab on Twitter, it appears the Airport is shut again.

The protesters are violating the human rights of those who wish to travel. Preventing me from exiting the country is a violation of my human rights.

The protesters are protesting at the airport peacefully to raise awareness internationally. regardless of your opinion on their cause, they have not attempted to damage or disrupt flights, and have not attempted to enter airside or restricted areas.

It is not the protesters decision to close the airport. It is rightly or wrongly the government/HKIA airport authority choice to do this. So it is not accurate to assume protesters are violating your human rights. If you feel your rights are being violated, you may take other options to leave HKG including land border via train, bus, or car as well as ferry to Macau and Zhuhai.

ei146 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:30 am

Yossarian22 wrote:
Right now the protesters are blocking passengers from accessing the secure area in Terminal 2. At a certain point, order has to be maintained, they are essentially holding foreigners (such as myself) hostage, who need to leave Hong Kong. I am not a resident here. I support the protesters, I am very sympathetic to their cause. But, to what purpose does it serve for them to not allow people to leave?

You have my sympathy. My response was rather targeted to some comments upthread, where people basically wanted to restrict any airport access to those flying or working there, and didn't want to give people the right of peaceful protest. If the protests in HKG are peaceful I don't know.

But as you are in the middle of it it would be really interesting to get more of your first-hand information of the situation.

qf789 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:46 am

CX now advising passengers not to proceed to airport

https://twitter.com/cathaypacific/statu ... 78881?s=20

Yossarian22 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:46 am

AA100 wrote:
Yossarian22 wrote:
From following the #antielab on Twitter, it appears the Airport is shut again.

The protesters are violating the human rights of those who wish to travel. Preventing me from exiting the country is a violation of my human rights.

The protesters are protesting at the airport peacefully to raise awareness internationally. regardless of your opinion on their cause, they have not attempted to damage or disrupt flights, and have not attempted to enter airside or restricted areas.

It is not the protesters decision to close the airport. It is rightly or wrongly the government/HKIA airport authority choice to do this. So it is not accurate to assume protesters are violating your human rights. If you feel your rights are being violated, you may take other options to leave HKG including land border via train, bus, or car as well as ferry to Macau and Zhuhai.

https://twitter.com/racporter/status/11 ... 41664?s=20

They are blocking passengers from accessing the gates, that is why the airport is shutdown today. With my American passport and Chinese visa, I have the right to do go to Shenzhen or Macau, but not everyone has the right to simply go to Mainland China or Macau.

ei146 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:15 am

Yossarian22 wrote:
https://twitter.com/racporter/status/1161198878848241664?s=20

They are blocking passengers from accessing the gates, that is why the airport is shutdown today. With my American passport and Chinese visa, I have the right to do go to Shenzhen or Macau, but not everyone has the right to simply go to Mainland China or Macau.

People in need to get out quickly might take a look at these options:
There is a Shenzhen 5-Day Visa on Arrival and the China 24(72/144)-Hour Visa-Free Transit valid for many nationalities.
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/citygu ... rrival.htm
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embass ... 24hour.htm
Currently there are many flights available from Shenzhen SZX for relativly cheap prices.

qf789 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:43 am

Virgin Australia has delayed flights ex HKG overnight

https://twitter.com/virginaustralia/sta ... 12672?s=21

melpax · Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:48 am

Some interesting goings on - Apple Daily live feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1PVyfqn_Q

zakuivcustom · Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:58 am

Yossarian22 wrote:
ei146 wrote:
mercure1 wrote:
Authorities should ban all persons without tickets from terminal buildings. In addition, there should be checkpoints on the roadway leading to the airport to verify identity or persons and what business they have at the airport.
Big failure in letting thousands to mill around the airport for no purpose other than cause disruption.

Sure, no picking up or taking your loved ones to the airport anymore, no spotting, no airport shopping, no hanging around at this damn cool and interesting place. You should realise that airports in many cases are much more than just the place to board a plane. They are shopping malls, business parks, intermodal transportation hubs & entertainment areas. Anyone still remembers the Dorian Gray club in the FRA basement?

The freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of speach (and thus the right to protest) are some of the most important Human rights. They are constitutional granted by all democracies and most of other countries.
FRAport (the company running FRA) tried several times to forbid demonstrations in the terminals and to expel protesters from the buildings. I hope I say this correctly in English: The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that freedom of assembly in public spaces is not restricted to public streets or squares, but all public places fulfilling similiar functions, which may include the public circulation spaces of shopping malls, stations or terminal buildings, even if they are on private property.
In the Frankfurt case this included the public circulation spaces in the checkin areas, arrivals halls and shopping areas. The area behind security is a different story of course.

The society and the individuals have to accept a certain degree of inconvenience caused by such lawful protests. E.g. you may have to accept the inconvenience to go slower or use a different route if your road is blocked by the sheer mass of protesters.
It is interesting how fast some people want to take away basic Human rights from others if their usage annoys them.

Right now the protesters are blocking passengers from accessing the secure area in Terminal 2. At a certain point, order has to be maintained, they are essentially holding foreigners (such as myself) hostage, who need to leave Hong Kong. I am not a resident here. I support the protesters, I am very sympathetic to their cause. But, to what purpose does it serve for them to not allow people to leave?

The online opinion is definitely very divided on blocking people from leaving HK.

Precisely, the argument is that the protesters will eventually lose support of people like you - and it is true.

Sadly to say, it seems like the protest is starting to get hijacked. Some are blaming the “undercover” police acting as protesters, but often, it is actual protesters that are blocking elevator and the path to the restricted area.

Yossarian22 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:59 am

melpax wrote:
Some interesting goings on - Apple Daily live feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1PVyfqn_Q

So they hold a sign that says “Hong Kong is no longer safe”, but don’t let people leave the city they claim is unsafe?

ltbewr · Tue Aug 13, 2019 11:34 am

Shutting down a major international airport is a strong way to get attention to a cause, that is why the HK airport has become a major site of protests. Of course it is counterproductive, hurting the business and tourist travelers who in turn support 1000's of jobs in restaurants, hotels, and other visitor facilities.

B777LRF · Tue Aug 13, 2019 11:38 am

Yossarian22 wrote:
melpax wrote:
Some interesting goings on - Apple Daily live feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1PVyfqn_Q

So they hold a sign that says “Hong Kong is no longer safe”, but don’t let people leave the city they claim is unsafe?

You seem to operate on the misunderstanding, the world revolves around you. It doesn't, and there are far bigger and more important things at play than you having your travel plans somewhat disturbed.

As for the signs, any reasonable observer will understand they're aimed at people outside the territory, not for those who're already there.

There are numerous ways to leave Honkers which doesn't involve flying out of HKG. Ferry to Macau or a train to Shenzen are but two of them, and both are accessible with a minimum of effort. So you're absolutely free to leave the city, albeit perhaps not the way you intended. But when life serves you lemons, remember to make lemonade.

SeoulIncheon · Tue Aug 13, 2019 11:53 am

AngMoh wrote:
SeoulIncheon wrote:
jeffrey0032j wrote:
SQ2 (77W) is flying SFO direct.

Wow. would 77W have enough legs for SIN-SFO direct - or would somebody get offloaded? It isn't exactly the season with strong jetstream either...

SIN-SFO should be ok. It is about 14.5hr flight time. SFO-SIN is not possible. It will be a very light load as a lot of pax are either SIN-HKG or HKG-SFO only. It probably goes out with around 100 pax.

Qow that's a lot of local traffic for fifth freedon flight!
Btw return leg operating with business-as-usual SFO-HKG-SIN leg...

Yossarian22 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 11:59 am

B777LRF wrote:
Yossarian22 wrote:
melpax wrote:
Some interesting goings on - Apple Daily live feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1PVyfqn_Q

So they hold a sign that says “Hong Kong is no longer safe”, but don’t let people leave the city they claim is unsafe?

You seem to operate on the misunderstanding, the world revolves around you. It doesn't, and there are far bigger and more important things at play than you having your travel plans somewhat disturbed.

As for the signs, any reasonable observer will understand they're aimed at people outside the territory, not for those who're already there.

There are numerous ways to leave Honkers which doesn't involve flying out of HKG. Ferry to Macau or a train to Shenzen are but two of them, and both are accessible with a minimum of effort. So you're absolutely free to leave the city, albeit perhaps not the way you intended. But when life serves you lemons, remember to make lemonade.

Perhaps, Hong Kong Airlines should issue travel refunds for all bookings for the rest of the week.

Yes, I am aware there are other ways out, I have a plan B and C.

Getting from Shenzhen to Shanghai is not that big of a deal, and I can afford it. But, there are going to be a number of lower budget travelers are are really being pinched by this, and could have trouble paying their way out of this situation. Booking a last minute flight from Shenzhen to the U.S. can be significantly more expensive than a flight booked months in advance from HK. Even just 200 or 300 dollars more for a ticket, would be a significant pinch for a family of 4.

melpax · Tue Aug 13, 2019 12:25 pm

Live feed I posted earlier seems to have stopped

Another one - things look chaotic....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHsJuIzapZY

B777LRF · Tue Aug 13, 2019 12:52 pm

Yossarian22 wrote:

Perhaps, Hong Kong Airlines should issue travel refunds for all bookings for the rest of the week.

Yes, I am aware there are other ways out, I have a plan B and C.

Getting from Shenzhen to Shanghai is not that big of a deal, and I can afford it. But, there are going to be a number of lower budget travelers are are really being pinched by this, and could have trouble paying their way out of this situation. Booking a last minute flight from Shenzhen to the U.S. can be significantly more expensive than a flight booked months in advance from HK. Even just 200 or 300 dollars more for a ticket, would be a significant pinch for a family of 4.

I appreciate your plight, I really do, but the tensions in Hong Kong have been building for months and one could thus reasonably front the argument, any and all visitor presently there willingly ventured to a volatile destination. They have my understanding but, to be honest, not much in the way of sympathy.

melpax · Tue Aug 13, 2019 1:16 pm

melpax wrote:
Live feed I posted earlier seems to have stopped

Another one - things look chaotic....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHsJuIzapZY

Not looking good, pax getting angry & frustrated with protesters almost to the point of boxing on, and there's currently a very unwell protester with his hands tied being dragged through the airport by paramedics.....

c933103 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 1:28 pm

Yossarian22 wrote:
B777LRF wrote:
Yossarian22 wrote:

So they hold a sign that says “Hong Kong is no longer safe”, but don’t let people leave the city they claim is unsafe?

You seem to operate on the misunderstanding, the world revolves around you. It doesn't, and there are far bigger and more important things at play than you having your travel plans somewhat disturbed.

As for the signs, any reasonable observer will understand they're aimed at people outside the territory, not for those who're already there.

There are numerous ways to leave Honkers which doesn't involve flying out of HKG. Ferry to Macau or a train to Shenzen are but two of them, and both are accessible with a minimum of effort. So you're absolutely free to leave the city, albeit perhaps not the way you intended. But when life serves you lemons, remember to make lemonade.

Perhaps, Hong Kong Airlines should issue travel refunds for all bookings for the rest of the week.

Yes, I am aware there are other ways out, I have a plan B and C.

Getting from Shenzhen to Shanghai is not that big of a deal, and I can afford it. But, there are going to be a number of lower budget travelers are are really being pinched by this, and could have trouble paying their way out of this situation. Booking a last minute flight from Shenzhen to the U.S. can be significantly more expensive than a flight booked months in advance from HK. Even just 200 or 300 dollars more for a ticket, would be a significant pinch for a family of 4.

CAAC claim Chinese carriers are also boosting capacity out of other Pearl River Delta airports to accommodate disrupted travellers.

Danny · Tue Aug 13, 2019 1:43 pm

This is going to end very badly:
https://www.businessinsider.com/videos- ... 019-8?IR=T
https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/foot ... 6118835fd9
https://twitter.com/AlexandreKrausz/sta ... 5442056193

UPlog · Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:41 pm

The notion that mobs are allowed to access the airport and create chaos is baffling for me. Even in the U.S. one must attain permission for public demonstration with clear info about its location, timings, and a number of attendees. Anything like events at HKG airport would be an unlawful assembly and everyone subject to arrest.

Anyhow, I imagine it won't be long before the harms from these self-destructive actions are seen in deeper in economic activity. As I stated earlier my airline has seen a reduction of cargo loads for several weeks at HKG as shippers prefer to avoid risk and delays and move their goods straight out of China. I see in the crew scheduling system multiple extra sections out of SZX as an example planned in coming days.. Once these other supply lines are organized they might become permanent, with HKG losing out on such traffic for good.

Cerecl · Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:45 pm

I don't understand what the protestors are trying to achieve. How does blocking check-in counters so that thousands of people can't leave help their cause? Surely a less disruptive protest would be more effective and attract more sympathy? I don't know about you guys but if I arrived at an airport and found my flight was blocked by protestors so it is delayed or cancelled, there is going to a snowball in hell's chance of me supporting them no matter how just and grand their message is.

I am reading CNN coverage of the event. One protestor was quoted as saying "So they shut down Hong Kong? Good! We are ready for it, we want it.". How does turning HK into a place that no one wants to visit actually help HK???

To those who were speculating that the protestors that block the way were "fake", undercover cops or whatever others, have a look at this photo. That's helluva crowd of fake protestors :banghead:

https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/digit ... ddab3.jpeg

intrance · Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:51 pm

Cerecl wrote:
How does blocking check-in counters so that thousands of people can't leave help their cause? Surely a less disruptive protest would be more effective and attract more sympathy? I don't know about you guys but if I arrived at an airport and found my flight was blocked by protestors so it is delayed or cancelled, there is going to a snowball in hell's chance of me supporting them no matter how just and grand their message is.

Just playing devils advocate... This egocentric attitude is probably a reason to go big or go home. I mean, what alternatives would you suggest that would make you pay attention and not just get on your flight and leave and forget about it all with the next news cycle?

shintaenam · Tue Aug 13, 2019 3:00 pm

Why do they stopped the check-in at the Airport Express? The govt should make the airport express stations as airside, limits all check-ins through the two stations. All passengers proceeds to the airport and get off at the Expo Hall, take passengers to the airside of the terminal building using motor coaches in the next few days to get all passengers out. Since local population prefer a total shutdown of the airport to ruin the local economy, the government should listen to them by shutting down the passenger operations at HKG until further announced, arrange to have all flights to/from HKG to use nearby airports.

Cerecl · Tue Aug 13, 2019 3:02 pm

intrance wrote:
Just playing devils advocate... This egocentric attitude is probably a reason to go big or go home. I mean, what alternatives would you suggest that would make you pay attention and not just get on your flight and leave and forget about it all with the next news cycle?

When was the last time you saw a large protest in an airport? I have never seen one and I doubt most travelling public would have either. So seeing a large group of peaceful protestors in an airport is striking enough. As things stand, travellers at HKIA will remember the protest, but much more likely to be in a negative light than if the protest was non-disruptive.
I dislike and dispute your characterisation of "egocentric attitude". The right to protest and express opinion should not infringe on other people's right to travel without delay.

Yossarian22 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:06 pm

B777LRF wrote:
Yossarian22 wrote:

Perhaps, Hong Kong Airlines should issue travel refunds for all bookings for the rest of the week.

Yes, I am aware there are other ways out, I have a plan B and C.

Getting from Shenzhen to Shanghai is not that big of a deal, and I can afford it. But, there are going to be a number of lower budget travelers are are really being pinched by this, and could have trouble paying their way out of this situation. Booking a last minute flight from Shenzhen to the U.S. can be significantly more expensive than a flight booked months in advance from HK. Even just 200 or 300 dollars more for a ticket, would be a significant pinch for a family of 4.

I appreciate your plight, I really do, but the tensions in Hong Kong have been building for months and one could thus reasonably front the argument, any and all visitor presently there willingly ventured to a volatile destination. They have my understanding but, to be honest, not much in the way of sympathy.

I’m not here by choice. I am here for visa reasons, the process started months ago, and by the time it became clear that things were getting out of hand in Hong Kong, my and my wife’s paperwork were too far along, to apply for our visa in a different consulate office.

OA260 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:15 pm

Dangerous times. Sad to see Hong Kong now a no go destination. I think after the beating of the guy believed to be a police officer at HKG the support will quickly drop. Hopefully China will not be tempted to go in and take over as it will be a bloodbath.

c933103 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:23 pm

OA260 wrote:
Dangerous times. Sad to see Hong Kong now a no go destination. I think after the beating of the guy believed to be a police officer at HKG the support will quickly drop. Hopefully China will not be tempted to go in and take over as it will be a bloodbath.

Except that guy was a Chinese police officer that have no authority in the city yet carrying weapons around...

intrance · Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:37 pm

Cerecl wrote:
intrance wrote:
Just playing devils advocate... This egocentric attitude is probably a reason to go big or go home. I mean, what alternatives would you suggest that would make you pay attention and not just get on your flight and leave and forget about it all with the next news cycle?

When was the last time you saw a large protest in an airport? I have never seen one and I doubt most travelling public would have either. So seeing a large group of peaceful protestors in an airport is striking enough. As things stand, travellers at HKIA will remember the protest, but much more likely to be in a negative light than if the protest was non-disruptive.
I dislike and dispute your characterisation of "egocentric attitude". The right to protest and express opinion should not infringe on other people's right to travel without delay.

I remember there were large protests at airports in the US when Trump initially pushed his "muslim ban" through... Short memories.

The egocentric part... I would say that was a fairly factual observation considering your statement of "I'm never siding with them if they block my travel, no matter how just or grand their cause", whether you dislike it or not. Now you state that a peaceful protest is a good way to grab attention, until it affects YOUR travel. How is that not egocentric?

Note that I'm not saying the protesters are going about things in the best way, but I can see why they would target the airport. Easy media attention, media will need to explain why protesters are there and if people are too short sighted to see past their disrupted travel plans and note the bigger issue, that is a problem for them, not the protesters I would say.

D L X · Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:50 pm

B777LRF wrote:
Yossarian22 wrote:

Perhaps, Hong Kong Airlines should issue travel refunds for all bookings for the rest of the week.

Yes, I am aware there are other ways out, I have a plan B and C.

Getting from Shenzhen to Shanghai is not that big of a deal, and I can afford it. But, there are going to be a number of lower budget travelers are are really being pinched by this, and could have trouble paying their way out of this situation. Booking a last minute flight from Shenzhen to the U.S. can be significantly more expensive than a flight booked months in advance from HK. Even just 200 or 300 dollars more for a ticket, would be a significant pinch for a family of 4.

I appreciate your plight, I really do, but the tensions in Hong Kong have been building for months and one could thus reasonably front the argument, any and all visitor presently there willingly ventured to a volatile destination. They have my understanding but, to be honest, not much in the way of sympathy.

That's QUITE a strong statement for not knowing the reason any of the affected people traveled to HKG.

atcsundevil · Tue Aug 13, 2019 5:22 pm

Just a reminder that this isn't the place for political discussion. This is the Civil Aviation Forum, so discussion should center around the aviation impacts of this story. Please discuss the political impacts in the Non Aviation Forum.

✈️ atcsundevil

wxman11 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:22 pm

jayunited wrote:
It is safe to assume that SQ2 is nowhere near capacity this evening

Yeah, you're right. It only had 96 pax on-board not including the 20 crew.

wxman11 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:38 pm

AngMoh wrote:

My estimate of 100 pax is based on that fact that every time I fly SIN-SFO over HKG, more than half the pax on SFO-HKG fly that leg only. So 100 pax is my estimate for SIN-HKG-SFO all the way only pax on this specific flight only. All SIN-HKG only pax will have been offloaded and HKG-SFO pax will not board. Most people fly direct if they can and don't stop in HKG. Especially the morning flight from SIN-SFO direct has a lot of connecting pax from India.

Close, only 96 pax on the flight.

wxman11 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:42 pm

FriscoHeavy wrote:
but when I flew SIN-SFO, it was full, not 100 passengers or so.

Were you on SQ2 last night or are you referring to onr of the 2 other non-stop SQ flights??

md11sdf · Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:58 pm

I have been unable to keep up with what's been happening at CLK, aside from the passenger terminal being shut down by protesters for two days. My real question is, has this affected cargo operations at all? I'm in Louisville Kentucky USA, which is home to the UPS Worldport.

chunhimlai · Tue Aug 13, 2019 7:06 pm

md11sdf wrote:
I have been unable to keep up with what's been happening at CLK, aside from the passenger terminal being shut down by protesters for two days. My real question is, has this affected cargo operations at all? I'm in Louisville Kentucky USA, which is home to the UPS Worldport.

All cargo terminals business as usual though many cargo do not come on time due to flight cancel/delay

zippy · Tue Aug 13, 2019 8:00 pm

zakuivcustom wrote:
often, it is actual protesters that are blocking elevator and the path to the restricted area.

How can you tell the difference?

zakuivcustom · Tue Aug 13, 2019 8:16 pm

zippy wrote:
zakuivcustom wrote:
often, it is actual protesters that are blocking elevator and the path to the restricted area.

How can you tell the difference?

After the event in the evening - I can't tell anymore. Clearly there are a group of instigators among the protesters. Perhaps it's some triads that are coordinating with the HKPF, perhaps it's stupid hothead protesters that cannot control themselves (and there are certainly some of those), or perhaps it's some undercover HKPF officer or even "Gong On" (Chinese police) acting like protesters, stir up incidents, and thus, win the propaganda battle. The thing is, the protest was largely peaceful up until 4pm-ish HK Time on 8/13, when you start having people literally blocking travelers from entering the restricted area.

Anyway, since my last post was deleted (I do apologized for my foul language...I was beyond frustrated during my original post), there is an injunction against the protesters filed by airport authority that was granted around Midnight HK Time:
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/pol ... lence-hong

The details of the injunction is not known right now, i.e. are they going to completely banned protesters (but basically anybody) from being in places like Arrival Area, which was "free for all"? Or are they filing an injunction just so the police has 100% power to arrest any protesters that "stray" into the current restricted area?

Either way, operations seems to be back to normal tomorrow. I personally can only hope for calm mind to prevailed, especially with possible "undercover" instigating things nowaday. I don't see the purpose of having more protest this soon (i.e. tomorrow) at the airport again, either, other than to pissed off travelers even more and totally turn the opinion against the protesters (Which is, again, something that some protesters doesn't think will happen no matter what they do :banghead:

)

LAXLHR · Tue Aug 13, 2019 8:30 pm

Yossarian22 wrote:
From following the #antielab on Twitter, it appears the Airport is shut again.

The protesters are violating the human rights of those who wish to travel. Preventing me from exiting the country is a violation of my human rights.

Oh please. Nonsense!

What's happening in HK is much much bigger than YOU, aviation or even China. Keep watching! These are the global previews.

Your human rights LOL!! That's great! :-)

TObound · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:26 pm

Protests that aren't inconvenient, aren't effective. Prove me wrong.

The loads of anti-democratic comments in here are really making aviation fans look bad as a community.

Bradin · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:28 pm

I'm curious - what would happen to the Hong Kong Airport if China sends in the army to quell dissenters? Would flights be suspended? Would airports shut down? What's the operating procedures for situations like this?

OA260 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:36 pm

Bradin wrote:
I'm curious - what would happen to the Hong Kong Airport if China sends in the army to quell dissenters? Would flights be suspended? Would airports shut down? What's the operating procedures for situations like this?

If certain news reports are to be believed that is exactly what is going to happen. Reports quoting Trump as saying they have intelligence that troops are moving towards HK border.

Aesma · Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:26 pm

ltbewr wrote:
Shutting down a major international airport is a strong way to get attention to a cause, that is why the HK airport has become a major site of protests. Of course it is counterproductive, hurting the business and tourist travelers who in turn support 1000's of jobs in restaurants, hotels, and other visitor facilities.

That's like saying a strike is counterproductive, when of course strikes are often very effective. Nothing has worked so far, so now they try this.

trex8 · Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:51 pm

Cerecl wrote:
I don't understand what the protestors are trying to achieve. How does blocking check-in counters so that thousands of people can't leave help their cause? Surely a less disruptive protest would be more effective and attract more sympathy? I don't know about you guys but if I arrived at an airport and found my flight was blocked by protestors so it is delayed or cancelled, there is going to a snowball in hell's chance of me supporting them no matter how just and grand their message is.

There is only one thing the colonial and now SAR government understand, $$$. And if this hurts then they will perk up and maybe listen to the protestors.

atcsundevil · Tue Aug 13, 2019 11:34 pm

This will serve as the last notice — this thread and forum are for aviation comments only. Political comments belong in the Non Aviation Forum. This thread is for aviation impacts to the airport in Hong Kong ONLY. Please respect the delineation of these forums, because most users expect the aviation forums to be as free from politics as possible. If the political comments continue, the thread will be locked.

✈️ atcsundevil

adambrau · Wed Aug 14, 2019 12:38 am

So overall seems like longhaul flights are operating. As an an example UA operated today from EWR/ORD/SFO to HKG.

My sister arrived last night into HKG from PVG to HKG on CX.

Seems like so far HKG ops are a bit of a gamble. Hope a solution is quickly found or that the ops can get back to normal soon.

Adam

zakuivcustom · Wed Aug 14, 2019 12:49 am

adambrau wrote:
So overall seems like longhaul flights are operating. As an an example UA operated today from EWR/ORD/SFO to HKG.

My sister arrived last night into HKG from PVG to HKG on CX.

Seems like so far HKG ops are a bit of a gamble. Hope a solution is quickly found or that the ops can get back to normal soon.

Adam

https://www.hongkongairport.com/en/flig ... enger.page

Just looking at departure board for today (8/14 HK Time), things look to be back to normal with minimal cancellations, unlike yesterday even before the total shutdown of the airport.

I highly doubt there will be heavy organized protest at the airport today - the backlash from last night was pretty strong and I highly doubt the gov't will let things go THIS out of hand (almost on purpose yesterday) again.

LAXintl · Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:18 am

Not sure why it took so long to get this. Should have been obtained weeks ago during the initial protest at the airport.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EB5E0nWX4AYM6-j?format=jpg

Yossarian22 · Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:21 am

It looks like things will return to business as usual at the airport, and the protesters realize that last night was counterproductive. I support them, and I am empathetic, but it is bad optics when you have videos of little old ladies crying, because they just want to go home. I’m guessing, at least for the short-term, there will be no major unrest at the airport. Although, the last couple of weeks have been nothing if not unpredictable. A week ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed that they would shutdown the airport two nights in a row.

flyPIT · Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:34 am

md11sdf wrote:
I have been unable to keep up with what's been happening at CLK, aside from the passenger terminal being shut down by protesters for two days. My real question is, has this affected cargo operations at all? I'm in Louisville Kentucky USA, which is home to the UPS Worldport.

chunhimlai wrote:
All cargo terminals business as usual though many cargo do not come on time due to flight cancel/delay

The cargo crews still must use the passenger terminal to clear customs/immigration both inbound and outbound.

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