The Hong Kong Airport Authority has announced that all flights out of Hong Kong will be cancelled for the rest of Monday owing to a large number of protesters at the airport.
The Authority announced at 4pm that only the flights departing the city will be those which have completed boarding.
Earlier, thousands of Hong Kong protesters returned to the airport for a sit-in, in protest of the police use of force on Sunday.
It came after demonstrators conducted a three-day-long protest at Chek Lap Kok to welcome tourists with information about the Hong Kong anti-extradition law protests and police brutality.
On Sunday, the Hong Kong police fired tear gas inside Kwai Fong MTR station and at Tai Koo MTR station.
Some officers were disguised as protesters, as one protester had her right eye ruptured, apparently caused by a bean bag round fired by police.
On Monday, some demonstrators covered their right eyes with gauze in protest.
“Dirty cops return her eye,” one chanted as tourists exit the arrival hall.
A student who gave his surname as Cheung said he arrived at Terminal two at around 4pm after hearing from others that only protesters who have protective gear should participate in Monday’s sit-in.
When asked if he was concerned about rumours that the airport may be cleared by police 6pm, he said he was not aware of any such plan but believed it was a possibility: “When I first came to Terminal two, the shops were still open but now most of them have closed,” he said.
“Stand with Hong Kong,” another chanted.
A protester, who declined to give her name, told HKFP she was planned to leave Terminal one after hearing reports that police are to conduct a clearance operation at 6pm: “We want to get to the bus first because the Airport Express only has one train every 15 minutes. We can’t wait that long”, she said.
A protester in her 20s, who wished to remain anonymous, told HKFP that they came to the airport to hand out pamphlets accusing the police of attempting to kill Hong Kong people.
The pamphlets displayed cases of alleged police brutality on Sunday.
There were also photos widely shared online claiming that undercover police officers, disguised as protesters, had appeared at the airport.
Many protesters left the airport before 6pm – the rumoured time that the police would take action.
Because of large amount of people leaving, many could not board buses or the Airport Express train service, and thus chose to walk.
As of 8pm, hundreds of protesters still remained at Arrivals, handing pamphlets to tourists and chanting slogans such as “don’t trust Hong Kong police.”
No clearance action was announced.
