THOUSANDS of passengers were stranded at Kai Tak airport overnight after fog disrupted at least 320 flights yesterday.
The crowds camping in the departure hall could swell today, with weather forecasters predicting thick fog to persist until tomorrow.
By 11.30 pm, 119 departures and 102 arrivals had been delayed, with 57 flights diverted to other airports, while 18 outgoing and 23 incoming flights were cancelled.
Civil Aviation Department spokesman Vincent Kan Pak-kei said authorities had agreed to relax the 1 am curfew to help clear the backlog, but it was not clear how late aircraft could operate.
Kai Tak's arrivals hall was eerily quiet, with knots of tired friends and relatives waiting around information monitors. Upstairs the departure hall and check-in counters were jammed.
A delayed Singapore Airlines flight dashed the hopes of South African jetski trader Anton Nel, 26, making an important business meeting in the Lion City. He still hoped to catch the connecting flight to Johannesburg.
'I'll have to phone my partners from home,' he said. 'It's a shame to come all this way and not even see them.' From 4 pm, Cathay Pacific check-in supervisor Teresa Fong Oi-kam was urging passengers not to go through immigration to the clogged departure lounge.
