Hong Kong International Airport Will Close For 36 Hours Due To Typhoon Ragasa

JAKARTA - Hong Kong International Airport will suspend all passenger flights for 36 hours starting Tuesday evening, Qantas Airways said, as preparations have taken place for one of its strongest super typhoons in recent years.

Hong Kong Airport will be closed from 20.00 local time from September 23 to 08.00 on September 25, Qantas said in a statement, adding it would contact affected customers.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong Airport Authority said it was closely monitoring the development of a super typhoon, named Ragasa, and had begun preparations for the storm.

However, the spokesman said his party had not made an official announcement regarding the closure.

Separately, the Hong Kong Observatory said it would issue its lowest typhoon signal by Monday afternoon, raising it to its second-highest signal on Monday evening between 8 p.m. and 10pm.

The weather is expected to worsen rapidly from Tuesday and strong winds to hurricanes will hit the densely populated city on Wednesday, with winds expected to hit hurricane forces off the coast and on the highlands.

Across the city, residents began stockpiling daily necessities on Monday morning. Long queues occurred in supermarkets where products such as milk had been sold out, while vegetables were sold at a price of more than three times the normal price in the fresh market, according to witnesses Reuters.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Airways, the city's largest airline, said on Sunday it was closely monitoring the potential impact of the storm and although its current flights were not affected, it could change as the situation develops.

The Civil Aviation Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.