HUNDREDS of travellers started and ended their holidays in a fluster yesterday as 12 flights through Kai Tak were delayed, at least three of which were diverted to Taiwan.
Flights from London and Sydney were each four hours late in arriving after the British Airways BA27 flight from Heathrow was sent to Taipei and the Qantas 027 flight to Kaohsiung.
United Airlines flight 805 from San Francisco was held up for about 21/2 hours after being diverted to Taipei.
Cathay was the worst-hit airline with four flights delayed. One, from Taipei, had to wait nearly 31/2 hours to take off after hearing of the problems at Kai Tak.
One of the delayed flights, Cathay 839 from Vancouver, took nearly two hours extra to arrive at 9.40 pm due to bad weather. The other delays were due to the Dragonair emergency landing and consequent closure of the airport.
Some airline staff were flustered, but others were taking things easy: a recorded message at All Nippon Airways' offices was giving flight information for April 24.
