Developing | No quick fix for Hong Kong airport computer failure as passengers struggle to find real-time flight information
The operator of Hong Kong’s airport is scrambling to fix a computer failure that has knocked out real-time flight and baggage collection information in the terminal and on its digital platforms but has admitted the system “cannot be restored within a short period of time”.
Airport Authority executive director Steven Yiu Siu-chung on Sunday urged passengers to contact their airlines for updated flight details and allocate sufficient time for check-in procedures.
Some passengers said they had missed their flights because of the lack of information, while others complained about chaos in the departure hall.
The government told the authority – tackling its second major event in a week after hundreds of flights were delayed on Monday following an emergency landing – to investigate the latest incident and file a report.
Yiu said abnormalities were discovered in the computer system around 7am, resulting in real-time flight information not being displayed in both the arrival and departure halls at the airport, as well as on the authority’s website and the MyHKG mobile app.
The baggage reclaim hall in the airport’s restricted area also failed to display relevant information.
“We commenced large-scale contingency measures after we confirmed that the system cannot be restored within a short period of time,” Yiu said.
He did not give an estimate on the time needed to fix the problem, but stressed that no human error was involved in the incident.
The authority handled 160 flights between 7am and 11am. Yiu said the system failure did not cause flight delays and flight operations remained normal.
He added that the Airport Emergency Centre was now operating and that the authority had implemented contingency measures, including setting up temporary screens to display information.
Crowds gathered in front of whiteboards set up in the airport’s restricted area and the arrival hall to display handwritten flight updates, while staff responded to tourists’ queries.
Notices have been attached to each display screen in the departure hall to notify passengers about the update failure, with the same information being broadcast every 15 minutes over the public address system.
Macau resident Jacob Ng, 40, said he missed his flight to Cebu in the Philippines and was unsure what to do as the airline only flew there once on a Sunday.
Ng, a manufacturer, said he arrived at the airport at midnight for his 9.40am flight and entered the restricted area at 6am with a boarding pass that showed no gate information.
“At first I thought it was normal without the gate info. But after I entered the restricted area, I didn’t find any info about my flight until around 10am when I was told where the gate was,” he said.
Arriving at the gate, he found he was one of six passengers who missed the flight.
“Airline staff told me it was the airport’s fault. No one from the Airport Authority approached me with a solution, like how I will be compensated,” he said, adding that he did not know if he should book another flight or go back to Macau to fly from there.
“I am disappointed with Hong Kong International Airport. How can their risk management be qualified to tell good Hong Kong stories?”
Business traveller Peter Lapointe said he felt confused as there was no information on the screens.
“Certainly, I did not expect this would happen to an international airport,” said the 27-year-old whose flight to Vietnam departed at 3pm.
He said he had not experienced such incidents elsewhere.
Sam Lo, who was waiting for a friend in the arrival hall, said he found flight information on the white board “a bit hard to read”.
The 30-year-old used a mainland Chinese flight-checking app to see whether his friend had arrived.
“My friend’s flight has already landed. But now it is just that we don’t know how long we should wait and which area to pick up the luggage,” he said.
Lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan, who chairs the Legislative Council’s transport panel, said handwritten flight information appeared to be the only available option although it was not ideal.
“The Airport Authority should have a backup system. It’s not clear whether the backup system was activated or whether it could help specifically for flight information,” Chan said.
The lawmaker said that while computer glitches were unavoidable, the authority needed to keep up with regular inspections, testing and drills.
The authority’s mobile app and website displayed the words “flight information currently unavailable” due to technical issues.
Earlier, most flights scheduled to depart at 9.55am had no gate information or boarding status displayed. More than 10 flights departing between 7.15am and 10am still had “boarding” as their status.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said the authority had to submit an investigation report to the government about the incident.
“I have requested the authority to disseminate the latest information to travellers in a timely manner, investigate the cause of the incident and report to the Transport and Logistics Bureau,” he said in a Facebook post.
The MTR Corporation said pre-check-in services for the Airport Express at Hong Kong station and Kowloon station were operating as usual, but it was not able to provide flight information.
Last Monday, 450 flights were delayed after a cargo plane’s emergency landing at the airport triggered an eight-hour runway closure.
The airport was left with one runway in operation as a third runway was closed for modification works in 2022 and will reopen this year.
