Tropical Storm Champi Halts Flights and Ferries, Stranding Thousands in Taiwan's Outlying Islands

Tropical Storm Champi disrupted transport to Taiwan’s outlying islands, stranding more than 1,000 passengers each at Kinmen and Penghu airports. Mandarin Airlines and UNI Air deployed additional flights to Kinmen, while Penghu saw 30 scheduled flights and three extra ferry sailings between Kaohsiung and the islands, moving about 1,300 travelers. At Taoyuan International Airport, 563 flights were canceled on Friday and another 261 by Saturday morning, lowering the projected holiday passenger flow from 157,000 to around 114,000.

Flight operations were expected to gradually recover with 607 movements scheduled for Saturday despite poor visibility. Songshan Airport also experienced cancellations and diversions, including a China Airlines flight rerouted to Kaohsiung and an Air China flight that aborted landing and returned to China. Travelers were advised to check airline updates as schedules remained fluid.