As the super typhoon Ragasa approaches the Chinese financial hub, the Hong Kong International Airport may be preparing to suspend all passenger flights for 36 hours, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, September 22. Airport and aviation officials plan to halt services from as early as 6 pm local time on Tuesday until 6 am on Thursday, the report said.

Hong Kong airport is one of the largest airports in the world, handling over 57.6 million last year, with 383,450 flight movements. In a statement released in August this year, the airport authority said that in July alone it had handled over 5.2 million passengers; that means nearly 167,741 passengers a day. The statement also reveals that in this period 33,670 flights operated.

So if the 36-hour closure happens for Typhoon Ragasa, it will impact more than 2.5 lakh passengers with 1629 flights. Indicating a possible closure, Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific said on Monday that it expects to cancel more than 500 flights.

"Starting at 6pm tomorrow, Sep 23, Cathay Pacific's passenger flights arriving at and departing from Hong Kong International Airport will cease operations until resuming during daytime hours on Thursday," a spokeswoman for the airline said at a press conference as cited by CNA news.

Qantas issues statement

Australia-based Qantas airline also made a statement on it; it said, ‘We’re currently monitoring the potential impact of Typhoon Ragasa in Hong Kong. It added, ‘Due to Typhoon Ragasa, flights will be impacted from 8pm (AEST) 23 September 2025 to 8am (AEST) 25 September 2025.’

If confirmed, this unprecedented 36-hour shutdown is the longest in HKIA's recent history, surpassing the 20-hour and 13-hour closures for Typhoons Saola and Wipha, respectively, as per Gulf News.

Update on Hong Kong weather

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has issued a new update on Super Typhoon Ragasa, warning residents to brace for worsening weather conditions as the storm edges closer to Guangdong. “The Standby Signal, No. 1 is in force,” the HKO said in its latest bulletin issued at 13:45 HKT on Monday (September 22). “This means that a tropical cyclone will come within 800 kilometres of Hong Kong and may affect us.”

At 2 p.m., Ragasa was estimated to be about 840 kilometers east-southeast of Hong Kong and is forecast to move west or west-northwest at about 22 km/h across the Luzon Strait before entering the northern part of the South China Sea. It added, that the Observatory will issue the Strong Wind Signal, No. 3, at 9:40 p.m. tonight.

The HKO said that it will also consider issuing the Gale or Storm Signal, No. 8, between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. tomorrow (September 23).

Philippines evaluations

The Philippines suspended work and classes across Metro Manila and large parts of the country on Monday as Ragasa moved toward northern Luzon, threatening destructive winds and heavy rain.

More than 10,000 evacuees sheltered in schools and evacuation centers in the Philippines on Monday (Sep 22) as heavy rains and gale-force winds from Super Typhoon Ragasa lashed the country's far north, as per CNA.

The typhoon, which is gaining strength as it proceeds on a collision course with southern China, was expected to make landfall over the Philippines' Babuyan Islands by around midday.