The distance from the airport to Tung Chung is about 5km (3 miles), while Sunny Bay is a further 13km (8 miles) away from the town.

Alongside these travellers were black-shirted protesters who had earlier caused mayhem outside the airport. Others managed to get onto airport buses that were leaving, but were now stuck on the Tsing Ma Bridge.

The government issued a statement late on Sunday that severely condemned the vandalism and illegal acts of the protesters.

Sunday’s protests followed a night of violence in the city after tens of thousands joined an illegal march during the day that descended into pitched battles with riot police who used tear gas and water cannons.

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While the protesters’ actions disrupted travellers who were arriving or leaving the city, they did not succeed in paralysing the airport, unlike three weeks ago.

On August 12 and 13, protesters crippled one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs, causing 979 flights to be aborted. They also shocked international travellers by detaining, zip-tieing and assaulting two mainland Chinese men in the departure hall.

Protesters this time vented most of their rage on the MTR, as they trashed Tung Chung station, smashing up the control room, dismantling CCTV cameras, jamming turnstiles so they could get in without paying, hacking at fire hoses to bring water gushing out and spray-painting graffiti. MTR staff watched helplessly, too intimidated to challenge them.

The MTR Corporation later issued a statement strongly condemning the continuous vandalism at stations. It said a number of stations including Tung Chung, Tsing Yi, Lam Tin, Kwun Tong, Diamond Hill, Lok Fu, Tsuen Wan, Lai King, Sha Tin, Sha Tin Wai, Siu Hong and Tin Shui Wai were targeted on Sunday, with CCTV cameras, ticket issuing machines and other facilities damaged.

On Saturday, protesters severely damaged facilities at 32 stations.

Saturday’s violent protests ended with elite Special Tactical Squad police chasing protesters into Prince Edward station and beating and pepper spraying them on a train.

While police said they were targeting hardcore protesters who had changed their clothes to mingle with other commuters after trashing the station, supporters of the anti-government movement saw it as indiscriminate violence.

Riding on a wave of anger over the train beatings, protesters on Sunday began descending upon the airport’s bus terminal at around lunchtime.

They proceeded to build barricades of luggage trolleys and metal fences at the airport bus station in a bid to stop traffic on the main road to the two terminals.

They set off fire extinguishers at one terminal, smashed surveillance cameras and damaged luggage trolleys.

Outside another part of the terminal, one group had wheeled in a row of dumpsters and tipped them to one side to let the rubbish out as barricades against the riot police.

Protesters then smashed the glass doors protecting a fire hose and proceeded to wet the road in front of the barricades to make it too slippery for police to advance.

Next they moved onto the roads, setting up more barricades which they later lit up into a blaze.

While riot police appeared at several points to be moving in on them, the protesters managed to flee and leave the airport – at times, seemingly uncertain if they would return – for Tung Chung.

Along the way, they threw bricks and metal poles over fencing separating the highway from the tracks of the Airport Express. The MTR said that was dangerous enough to force the suspension of airport train services.

It was not until after 10pm that the rail firm announced that Airport Express services from the airport to Kowloon and Hong Kong stations would resume although AsiaWorld-Expo and Tsing Yi stations were to remain closed.

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Local resident Chandran Nair was struck by the sight of the protesters walking along the road, and the “staggering number” of metal pipes they were carrying, while his bus was stuck for hours in the jam they had caused.

“Everyone on the bus was too petrified to make eye contact with all the people in black shirts. I’ve never been on a bus in Hong Kong that was so quiet,” he said.

While wreaking havoc at the station, and assaulting commuters who objected to their actions, the mobs also blocked multiple roads in Tung Chung, set fire to barricades and paralysed traffic.

At the Tung Chung swimming pool, protesters set the national flag on fire in another display of defiance against Beijing, which has repeatedly condemned such acts as an attack on China’s sovereignty.

When the MTR ordered the station to be closed just before 6pm, they rushed out and held the shutters open to allow their comrades to leave.

Before long, the MTR had shut down not just Tung Chung station, but the entire line, along with the Disneyland Resort line, apparently in an attempt to prevent the protesters from moving about easily.

By the time police arrived, they had fled the scene, and were left to their own devices to get out of the town with transport paralysed by their actions. Late into the evening, dozens of volunteer drivers turned up at the Tsing Ma Bridge toll plaza to pick up protesters to take them home.

In the end, police stood facing angry residents who made it clear they did not want them around.

“Gangsters go home!” they yelled, hurling abuse at officers.

When an egg was thrown in their direction, one frustrated officer yelled back, “Very well, let them [protesters] destroy everything in Tung Chung!”