Typhoon Champi grounds hundreds of flights in Taiwan, threatens eastern mainland China

Flight disruptions and cancellations are compounding across East Asia as Typhoon Champi approaches Taiwan, grounding hundreds of domestic and international flights in Taiwan and poised to affect major mainland Chinese airports next.

Taiwan’s transport ministry said that 262 local flights and 715 international and cross-strait flights had been cancelled as of 10am Friday.

The island’s largest airports – Taiwan Taoyuan, Taipei Songshan, Kaohsiung and Taichung – faced large-scale flight cancellations as of Friday, according to the flight-tracking platform DAST.

Meanwhile, 14 airports across eastern mainland China were projected to be affected in the coming days, including nine in Zhejiang province, a major manufacturing and tech hub, and one in Fujian province.

They include Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao, Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Ningbo Lishe and Wenzhou Longwan.

To accommodate stranded travellers, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and other major mainland airlines have offered free rebooking or full refunds for passengers flying to and from the affected Taiwan airports.

After peaking on Wednesday as a super typhoon and one of the year’s strongest storms, Typhoon Champi weakened to a severe typhoon on Thursday.

The storm has since maintained its intensity, packing winds that reach up to 162km/h (101mph) near its centre, according to China’s National Meteorological Centre.

From Friday night to Saturday morning, Champi is expected to approach Taiwan’s northeastern coast with gradually diminishing strength, possibly brushing past the island.

The typhoon is then forecast to move north along Zhejiang’s eastern coast on Sunday, possibly skimming the mainland province, before turning northeast towards Japan.

The national forecaster has issued a blue typhoon warning for Champi, the lowest level in China’s four-tier system.

Champi is set to bring heavy rain and strong winds to eastern China.

Mainland state news agency Xinhua reported that heavy rainfall was forecast to swell the Jiaoxi River in Fujian and several coastal rivers in Zhejiang, including the Feiyun and Oujiang rivers, as well as Taihu Lake, a major freshwater lake in eastern China, and its surrounding river network.

Some smaller rivers in Zhejiang could exceed warning levels, with a heightened risk of flash floods in hilly areas.

On Thursday, mainland authorities activated emergency responses for Shanghai, Zhejiang and Fujian, urging local departments to step up weather monitoring, forecasting and early-warning measures.

In Shanghai, local flood-control authorities have lowered water levels in rivers and lakes across the city to expand storage capacity and protect residential areas.

And maritime officials in Shanghai’s Jinshan district, which borders Hangzhou Bay and Zhejiang, instructed vessels to move to safer waters on Thursday.

Owing to strong gales, 56 coastal ferry routes, 130 passenger ferries and 111 maritime construction projects across Fujian were suspended as of Thursday, according to local media reports.

Among the halted routes are four ferry services connecting Fujian and the outlying Taiwan-controlled islands of Quemoy, also called Kinmen, and Matsu. The routes serve as vital corridors for direct trade, travel and postal transit.