Airport Express option explored after thousands stranded

The Airport Authority is considering maintaining the Airport Express service under inclement weather after more than 16,000 passengers were stranded for at least three hours amid rail and bus service suspensions under the No 9 typhoon signal.

Passengers had to wait at least three hours on average for a taxi as only a dozen cabs per hour picked up passengers at the airport during the typhoon, despite the authority calling the taxi owners association for help.

MTR resumed the Airport Express after the observatory downgraded the alert to signal No 8 at 11.50pm on Sunday and extended service hours to 3am. Larger trains were also arranged to pick up passengers.

One arrival, Nial Farrell, said he waited four hours for a taxi.

"After waiting for four hours for a taxi, I feel this is a 'great welcome' to Hong Kong," he said.

"There is no other choice and we've got to wait, there is no alternative, it's crazy. This shouldn't be a surprise if planes land and public transport is canceled, of course this is gonna happen. It's obvious."

Executive director of airport operations Steven Yiu Siu-chung said 83 flights landed between 7pm on Sunday and midnight yesterday. He said it was not the airport's fault there were not enough taxis to carry passengers as people in other areas also had difficulties hailing a cab.

Yiu said the authority will discuss with the Transport Department and the government to see "how we can improve the taxi arrangement under bad weather" and discuss maintaining limited Airport Express services with the MTR.

Asked if the authority helped arrange accommodation for travelers, Yiu said most arrivals wished to go home as soon as possible via point-to-point transportation and that no hotel could receive such a large number of passengers.

The airport operated smoothly yesterday as 76 flights took off or landed and only less than 10 flights were canceled, Yiu said, urging travelers to check airlines' latest arrangements before heading to the airport.

Lawmakers slammed the "extremely chaotic" transport arrangement, saying it has brought a "catastrophic impact" to the city's tourism image.

Lawmaker Edward Leung Hei from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said the authority should have made better preparations as the observatory did warn it might issue a higher typhoon signal on Sunday afternoon.

He added that the authority could have helped travelers book hotels near the airport and arranged shuttle buses.

Leung urged the government and the authority to review current emergency transport arrangements before reporting to the Legislative Council.

Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, said some arrivals waited up to six hours. She posted on Facebook: "I heard the SAR has already set up a typhoon response team. How come such a situation still happened and what were the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, Transport and Logistics Bureau and Airport Authority doing?"

Government sources said authorities contacted the taxi sector, appealing to drivers to pick up passengers, but many refused due to safety concerns.

The taxi sector said the government should provide incentives for drivers to work in bad weather, such as offering HK$2,000 to HK$3,000 per day. But the government refused, saying it has to use public money cautiously.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com