China Cancels Hainan Flights As Typhoon Matmo Nears during Holiday
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Chinese authorities will cancel flights in Hainan on Saturday night before Typhoon Matmo hits the southern province.
This move will likely disrupt a peak holiday travel period for the resort island, Reuters reported.
All flights to and from Haikou’s international airport are expected to be cancelled from 11 p.m. local time.
The official Xinhua news agency reported Matmo could bring strong winds and heavy rain to southern China, including Guangdong and Yunnan provinces.
Matmo, which caused flooding in the Philippines this week, is expected to make landfall on Sunday.
Haikou plans to halt all schools, work and transport from Saturday afternoon to Sunday.
During China’s eight-day National Day holiday, people are expected to make some 2.36 billion passenger trips.
The daily average trips are forecast to be up 3.2% from the same period last year.
Haikou had planned nearly 150 cultural events and more than 10 sports competitions during the holiday period.
The resort city Sanya had planned 170 art and tourism activities, according to Hainan’s official social media.
State media CCTV asked the public to stay vigilant as Matmo will seriously impact tourism and transportation.
Meteorological experts noted the number of travelers is up significantly this holiday season.
The Hong Kong Observatory said it would raise the tropical cyclone warning signal to Strong Wind Signal No. 3 at 12:20 p.m. local time.
It will assess the need for higher signals later on Saturday.
The financial hub has issued 12 tropical cyclone warning signals this year, the most since 1946.
