Dense fog in Kinmen County disrupted flights for a second consecutive day today, leaving more than 1,400 passengers stranded as they waited to return to Taiwan, airport authorities said.
The persistent fog around the island less than 10km off the coast of China's Xiamen, continued to hamper travel this morning following the conclusion of the Tomb Sweeping Festival long weekend.
Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times
As of 10am, two flights had been canceled and several others delayed due to poor visibility, according to real-time Kinmen Airport departure and arrival data, although 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 cancelations yesterday, the final day of the holiday weekend, when thick fog forced the cancelation of 22 flights, affecting 2,175 travelers, the airport said.
While ferries destined for Taichung, about 200km away, were deployed to help ease congestion, they were unable to accommodate the high volume of stranded passengers.
One traveler surnamed Chang (張) said that his flight out of Kinmen yesterday morning was canceled and that he had been waiting at the airport since, adding 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.
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