Fog disrupts Kinmen flights for second day, over 1,000 stranded

Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Dense fog in Kinmen disrupted flights for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, leaving more than 1,400 passengers stranded as they waited to return to Taiwan, airport authorities said.

The persistent fog around the Taiwan-held island, which is located less than 10 kilometers off the coast of the Chinese city of Xiamen, continued to hamper travel Tuesday morning following the conclusion of the Tomb Sweeping Festival long weekend.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, two flights had been canceled and several others delayed due to poor visibility, according to real-time Kinmen Airport departure and arrival data, though most scheduled flights were able to land later in the morning.

A total of 658 passengers were waiting for standby seats on flights to Taipei, another 379 were trying to get home to Taichung, and 370 were looking to return to Kaohsiung.

The disruption followed widespread cancellations on Monday, the final day of the holiday weekend, when thick fog forced the cancellation of 22 flights, affecting 2,175 travelers, the airport said.

While ferries destined for Taichung, about 200 kilometers away, were deployed to help ease congestion, they were unable to accommodate the high volume of stranded passengers.

One traveler surnamed Chang (張) told CNA that his flight out of Kinmen on Monday morning was canceled and that he had been waiting at the airport since, noting that only a handful of standby passengers had been able to board each subsequent flight.

The earliest confirmed seats available to him were not until Thursday, Chang said.

He hoped that the government could arrange additional ferry services or extra flights to help those stuck on the island return home soon.