Flights cancelled, delayed; trains suspended on Thursday due to typhoon

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) Major Taiwanese airline companies have announced international flight cancellations and schedule changes for Thursday, while no trains in Taiwan will run before 3 p.m. the same day, as the country braces for the impact of Typhoon Gaemi, which is expected to pass over Taiwan from late Wednesday to Thursday.

China Airlines canceled 28 regional flights between East Asian destinations and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport or Kaohsiung, along with delays of several flights to and from Taoyuan, Taipei Songshan and Kaohsiung on Thursday.

The canceled flights are CI154/CI155 Taoyuan-Nagoya, CI156/CI157 Taoyuan-Osaka, CI102/CI103 Kaohsiung-Tokyo Narita, CI164/CI165 Kaohsiung-Seoul Incheon, CI701/CI702 Taoyuan-Manila, CI7915/CI7916 Taoyuan-Yangon CI787/CI788 Taoyuan-Da Nang, CI763/CI764 Taoyuan-Jakarta, CI833 Taoyuan-Bangkok, CI731 Taoyuan-Penang, CI601/CI602 and CI909/CI922 Taoyuan-Hong Kong, CI933-CI934 Kaohsiung-Hong Kong, CI501/CI502 Taoyuan-Shanghai, and CI585/CI586 Kaohsiung-Shenzhen, the carrier said.

Meanwhile, China Airlines' subsidiary Mandarin Airlines has canceled AE991/AE992 Taoyuan-Xiamen and AE967/AE968 Kaohsiung-Xiamen scheduled for Thursday.

EVA Airways announced cancellations of 45 flights, which were scheduled to depart Taoyuan before 12:40 p.m. or arrive in Taoyuan before 3:30 p.m. The affected destinations include Osaka, Chiang Mai, Komatsu, Okinawa, Tokyo Narita, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul Incheon, Bangkok, Macau, Shanghai, Manila and Hanoi.

Details of the canceled and rescheduled flights can be found on EVA Airways' website.

Starlux Airlines added three round-trip flights on Thursday -- Taoyuan-Sendai (JX1862/JX1863), Taoyuan-Hakodate (JX1860/JX1861) and Taoyuan-Bangkok (JX1745/JX1746), the carrier said.

Eight flights operated by Starlux will see later departure times. They are JX721/JX722 Taoyuan-Penang, JX838/JX839 Taoyuan-Nagoya, JX870/JX871 Taoyuan-Okinawa, and JX235/JX236 Taoyuan-Hong Kong, according to the carrier.

Cathay Pacific Airways, which operates up to 12 round-trip flights a day between Hong Kong and Taoyuan, advised passengers to check the latest status of flights on Thursday, as the carrier expects Typhoon Gaemi to cause a second day of disruptions.

Japanese budget carrier Peach Aviation also announced the cancellation of six flights scheduled for Thursday on its website, including MM620 and MM622 from Taoyuan to Tokyo Narita, MM722 from Taoyuan to Nagoya, MM923/MM924 Taoyuan-Okinawa and MM859 from Tokyo Haneda to Taoyuan.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Railway Corp. and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. both announced the cancellations of all services before 3 p.m. Thursday.