Typhoon Ragasa Forces Hong Kong Airlines to Evacuate Fleets, Disrupting Global Travel
Praveen Agrawal | Nov 27, 2025, 14:27 IST
In a dramatic turn of events, Typhoon Ragasa, the most formidable storm of the year, triggered significant changes in air travel from Hong Kong. Major airlines, including Cathay Pacific, swiftly relocated around 80% of their fleets in a preemptive move to safeguard their aircraft. With flights grounded for a record 36 hours, this precautionary measure aligns with insurance protocols.
As Typhoon Ragasa, the world's most powerful tropical cyclone this year, approached Hong Kong this week, mass flight cancellations and lost revenue were not the only headache for airlines based at one of the world's busiest airports.
Ahead of the arrival of hurricane-force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday (September 24, 2025), about 80% of the aircraft belonging to the four main airlines based in the city had been relocated to or grounded at airports in Japan, China, Cambodia, Europe, Australia and other locations, Flightradar24 tracking data showed.
The majority of Hong Kong's business jet fleet also moved out of the territory ahead of the storm, the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre said.
All landings and departures at Hong Kong, the world's busiest cargo airport and the ninth busiest for international passenger traffic, were cancelled for 36 hours starting on Tuesday (September 23) evening.
Hong Kong's largest airline, Cathay Pacific Airways , said on Monday (September 22) the typhoon was going to have "a significant impact" on its operations and it would cancel more than 500 long-haul and regional flights.
"We are positioning some of our aircraft away from Hong Kong and expect a staggered and gradual resumption to our schedule throughout Thursday into Friday (September 25-26)," said the airline, which has a fleet of 179 passenger and freighter planes.
Hong Kong issued typhoon signal 10, its highest warning, early on Wednesday (September 24), which urges businesses and transport services to shut down.
It is standard industry practice for airlines to move aircraft abroad during major weather events or as conflict risk rises to avoid potential damage, often to comply with insurance obligations.
At least 14 Cathay Pacific jets flew from Hong Kong to Cambodia's Phnom Penh Techo airport on Tuesday (September 23) to wait out the storm, according to tracking data and Techo airport.
Airlines can also preemptively send aircraft away from their main base so they are ready to operate return flights when a storm subsides.
In high winds, airlines can store aircraft in hangars, or add extra fuel to weigh them down. Smaller aircraft can be tied down.
Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines, a small carrier with seven aircraft, said it had parked all its planes away from Hong Kong as a safety precaution.
Ahead of the arrival of hurricane-force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday (September 24, 2025), about 80% of the aircraft belonging to the four main airlines based in the city had been relocated to or grounded at airports in Japan, China, Cambodia, Europe, Australia and other locations, Flightradar24 tracking data showed.
The majority of Hong Kong's business jet fleet also moved out of the territory ahead of the storm, the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre said.
All landings and departures at Hong Kong, the world's busiest cargo airport and the ninth busiest for international passenger traffic, were cancelled for 36 hours starting on Tuesday (September 23) evening.
Hong Kong's largest airline, Cathay Pacific Airways , said on Monday (September 22) the typhoon was going to have "a significant impact" on its operations and it would cancel more than 500 long-haul and regional flights.
"We are positioning some of our aircraft away from Hong Kong and expect a staggered and gradual resumption to our schedule throughout Thursday into Friday (September 25-26)," said the airline, which has a fleet of 179 passenger and freighter planes.
Hong Kong issued typhoon signal 10, its highest warning, early on Wednesday (September 24), which urges businesses and transport services to shut down.
It is standard industry practice for airlines to move aircraft abroad during major weather events or as conflict risk rises to avoid potential damage, often to comply with insurance obligations.
At least 14 Cathay Pacific jets flew from Hong Kong to Cambodia's Phnom Penh Techo airport on Tuesday (September 23) to wait out the storm, according to tracking data and Techo airport.
Airlines can also preemptively send aircraft away from their main base so they are ready to operate return flights when a storm subsides.
In high winds, airlines can store aircraft in hangars, or add extra fuel to weigh them down. Smaller aircraft can be tied down.
Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines, a small carrier with seven aircraft, said it had parked all its planes away from Hong Kong as a safety precaution.