A Canadian mother and daughter are among many of the Canadians stranded at the Hong Kong International Airport because of the violent protests that have now expanded to include the airport’s main terminal, cancelling all flights on Monday.
Eleven-year-old Janice Ly and her mother, Ping Fan Ly, from Surrey, B.C., were scheduled to be on the only flight to Canada that was cancelled during the mass pro-democracy protests.
AC008 was scheduled to leave 7:40 p.m. local time and arrive in Vancouver at 4:45 p.m. PT on Monday.
“We haven’t even gotten our luggage back, which is also kind of frustrating,” said Janice.
“We don’t know when we’ll get our luggage back.”
Ly said that they arrived at the airport a few hours early and checked in through security before they saw that it was cancelled on the departures board.
She said she and her mother haven’t received much information about where to go from there.
“No service at all … We were lining up to see what’s going on, to see if were getting our money back or if were going to get the next flight,” said Janice.
“We tried to talk to the people who are working but everyone just left us hanging there.
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“A guy came and told us either we leave the airport or just stay at the airport but he said staying at the airport was no use.”
Janice and her mother have set up makeshift bed at one of the airport gates and said they are two of many Canadians who are waiting at the airport for a flight back to Vancouver.
“Everything is a surprise,” said Ping.
“I feel tired. I’m trying to get some sleep.”
Meanwhile, Air Canada said there are two flights daily from Canada to Hong Kong, one each from Toronto and Vancouver, and that it is monitoring the situation closely for any further cancellations.
The company added it has put in place a flexible re-booking policy for customers wishing to change their travel plans to or from Hong Kong.
The other carrier between Hong Kong and Canada, Cathay Pacific, did not respond to a request for comment by Global News.
Canadian passengers who have booked flights for future dates to travel through Hong Kong to Canada said they haven’t received much clarity from Air Canada or Cathay Pacific on the potential cancellations.
“I’m really, really scared right now that I can’t come back to Canada,” said international student Zwee Dao, who’s studying in Nova Scotia but went back home to Hanoi, Vietnam for the summer.
Dao currently has a scheduled flight with Cathay Pacific that would take him through Hong Kong and then an Air Canada flight that would take him to Toronto.
“I mean I’m really worried right now. My whole host family are also worried about me.
“The fee for one trip is really, really expensive for me because I have to do three flights.”
Meanwhile, Ly and her mother Fan said that they believe they’ll be able to board a flight on Tuesday — but a lot depends on how the protests develop.
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