How Super Typhoon Ragasa is disrupting Asian travel

By Phuong Anh, Hoang Phong September 22, 2025 | 09:58 pm PT

A shop worker tapes a glass window in preparation for Typhoon Ragasa at a store in Hong Kong, Sept. 22, 2025. Photo by Reuters

Super Typhoon Ragasa, which entered the East Sea on Monday night with maximum winds of 221 km per hour, is paralyzing major air and sea routes across the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China.

Hong Kong International Airport is set to passenger flights for 36 hours, from 8 p.m. on Sept. 23 to 8 a.m. on Sept. 25, with airlines starting to cut schedules early, Bloomberg reported.

About 700 flights have been disrupted. Cathay Pacific has canceled more than 500 flights from Tuesday night to Thursday morning, and many other international carriers have followed suit, advising passengers to check updates regularly.

Singapore Airlines also canceled flights to and from Shenzhen on Sept. 23 and 24, and rescheduled some services to and from Hong Kong, according to The Straits Times.

Budget carrier Scoot said six flights between Singapore and Hong Kong on Sept. 23 and 24 were canceled.

China's coastal provinces have organized evacuations and stopped ferries, with Shenzhen expected to ground all flights on Tuesday night.

Many air routes in China's Fujian have been canceled, with further suspensions expected.

In Guangdong, multiple areas have moved residents to safety.

Typhoon Ragasa disrupted domestic transport in Taiwan on Monday, forcing the cancelation of all flights to outlying islands and the suspension of 88 ferry services on 13 routes, according to local carriers and transportation authorities.

Flights to Hualien and Taitung in eastern Taiwan were suspended for the entire day.

Most Taiwan Railway services on the North Link Line, South Link Line and Taitung Line before midday Tuesday have been suspended, Focus Taiwan reported.

The railway corporation said that passengers with tickets originally scheduled for trains disrupted can apply for a refund free of handling fees at any station by presenting their unused tickets.

In the Phillipines where the typhoon slammed into Panuitan island off Cagayan province on Monday afternoon, domestic flights in northern provinces, especially to Laoag, Tuguegarao, and Basco, have been canceled while fishing boats and inter-island ferries were prohibited from leaving ports due to rough seas.

Ragasa is forecast to remain at super-typhoon intensity with maximum winds of 202–220 km per hour on Tuesday, before entering a rapid weakening phase on Wednesday and Thursday on course to Guangzhou, China.