Hong Kong International Airport resumes flights

BEIJING

Flights resumed partially from the Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday, a day after protesters brought the air transport hub to a complete standstill.

Hong Kong's flagship Cathay Pacific Airways, announced schedule of limited number of flights, although dozens of other flights remained cancelled.

A Hong Kong English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post reported that as many as 160 outbound and 150 inbound flights were already cancelled for the rest of day on Tuesday.

Hong Kong's Chinese language newspaper, Sing Tao Daily estimated that more than 200 flights were cancelled, since Monday.

The protests which started in the form of a sit-in on Friday at the airport's arrivals terminal, spilled over to the departure halls, of one of the world's busiest travel hub.

The demonstrators slowed down passengers' check-in and arrival operations, leading to disruption and cancelation of most of the flights.

More than 100 airlines operate flights from this airport to over 180 cities across the globe. The airport on an average handles 75 million passengers annually.

Hong Kong, an autonomous region, under China’s control since 1997, has witnessed unprecedented protests since early June, against local government’s move to legalize extradition of suspects to mainland China, Macao and Taiwan.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev