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Willa Wu

Edith Lin

Hong Kong International Airport’s contingency planning capabilities have been called into question, following back-to-back incidents.
A flight information display system breakdown on Sunday was preceded recently by a cargo plane accident on a runway which delayed flights.
These incidents have threatened the city’s reputation as an aviation hub, despite having just reclaimed its position as the world’s busiest cargo airport and fourth busiest passenger airport in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023.
The Post looks at the latest hiccups at the airport and what lessons can be learned to maintain its edge in aviation.
1. What was the display failure about?
A computer glitch wiped flight information from the airport’s digital screens, website and mobile app for more than nine hours on Sunday, forcing staff to hastily write departure times and gate numbers on whiteboards while urging passengers to check in as early as possible.
While flights continued as usual, passengers were left confused and angry over the airport’s contingency handling.
Crowds of passengers had to wait in front of the boards to look for flight details that were not arranged alphabetically or chronologically.

Some were forced to head to the airport hours before their scheduled departure while others missed their flights by the time they managed to find out the boarding gate information.
It was not until 7.20am on Monday that the airport announced it had restored all real-time flight data for on-site digital screens, as well as on its website and mobile app.
The events on Sunday came on the heels of incident last Monday in which a cargo plane shut down one of the airport’s runways for more than eight hours after bursting a tyre during an emergency landing, resulting in delays to about 450 flights.
2. What went wrong on Sunday?
The cause of the system crash has not yet been identified by the Airport Authority.
Ricky Leung Wing-kee, executive director of engineering and technology at the authority, ruled out hacking of the airport’s computers, but said a “thorough checking” of the system was needed to locate the problem.
Information security management specialist Ronald Pong said he believed the system failure arose from the authority’s back-end system – its database – and that the electronic information boards were the front end.
Lawmaker Rock Chen Chung-nin, who sits on the authority’s board, said the airport had activated the backup after the main system developed a glitch, but it failed to complete all of its functions, with staff forced to perform some manually.
Fellow lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan, who chairs the Legislative Council’s transport panel, said it was his understanding that the display format for the backup system was different from the original’s, resulting in information not being properly shown on digital screens.
3. How did people react to the airport’s handling?
Eyebrows were raised when the authority revealed the glitch to the media at around 9am on Sunday, two hours after it was detected, as no quick fix was available.
With flight and baggage collection information knocked out for hours, many passengers took to social media to voice their complaints, with some describing the incident as “a major step backwards” in a cosmopolitan city such as Hong Kong.

Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said the airport’s contingency measures lacked a human-centric approach.
The airport’s backup system, which was said to have been activated but failed to perform like the original, also sparked concerns.
“Large infrastructure like Hong Kong International Airport should have a backup system that runs parallel to the original one and which can operate once the original system fails,” Fong said.
4. Have other airports experienced such incidents?
London’s Heathrow airport faced a similar problem in 2018 as staff were forced to use whiteboards after flight information displays went offline because of a connection problem.
The airport took to Twitter, now X, to tell passengers about the inactive display screens and urged them to check its website and mobile app for flight details.
Hong Kong International Airport also experienced a display system failure on its first day of operation on July 6, 1998, causing delays to numerous flights.
Investigations found that the week-long disruption was due to problems in the system software, as well as a lack of staff training and a comprehensive contingency plan.
For Sunday’s incident, the Airport Authority said it would conduct thorough checks on its display system.
5. What lessons can be drawn?
Rudi Leung, founder and director of marketing agency Hungry Digital, said it was crucial to provide timely information during crises to build transparency and trust with the public.
Leung speculated that the authority might have refrained from giving prompt updates on social media to avoid causing widespread concern.
Public affairs consultant Andy Ho On-tat said the authority should engage airlines and the government in forming contingency plans in the future.
Ho, who served as information coordinator from 2006 to 2012 for then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, said airlines, for example, could be asked to notify passengers about their flight details with the government issuing information on its official channels.


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A flight information display system breakdown on Monday at the airport was preceded recently by a cargo plane accident on the runway which delayed flights. Photo: Eugene Lee

An airport employee updates flight information on a whiteboard. Photo: Elson Li

Cathay Pacific planes at the Hong Kong airport. Photo: Eugene Lee

Hong Kong airport board members pledge to look into chaos after flight display system failure

Airport passenger information screens were back online on Monday morning. Photo: Eugene Lee

Airport staff were forced to use whiteboards to give passengers flight information after a system failure affected displays. Photo: Elson Li

A lawmaker who sits on the Airport Authority’s board has said the backup failed to handle all functions of the original system. Photo: Eugene Lee

Passengers confused and angry over Hong Kong airport flight information glitch

The computer glitch lasted for more than nine hours at the Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Elson Li

Macau resident Jacob Ng missed his fight Cebu on Sunday. Photo: Willa Wu

Travellers queue up for check in at Cathay Pacific Airways’ counters. Photo: Elson Li

Damage to cargo plane that shut Hong Kong airport runway more extensive than first reported

A cargo plane was forced to make an emergency return on Monday morning. Photo: Jelly Tse

Hundreds of flights were delayed at Hong Kong airport on Monday. Photo: Jelly Tse

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Back-to-back incidents threaten city’s reputation as an aviation hub, despite reclaiming accolades such as the world’s busiest cargo airport


Back-to-back incidents threaten city’s reputation as an aviation hub, despite reclaiming accolades such as the world’s busiest cargo airport.


Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong aviation

Aviation

Accidents and personal safety in Hong Kong

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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Back-to-back incidents threaten city’s reputation as an aviation hub, despite reclaiming accolades such as the world’s busiest cargo airport

1. What was the display failure about?

Back-to-back incidents threaten city’s reputation as an aviation hub, despite reclaiming accolades such as the world’s busiest cargo airport