Thousands of flights cancelled as Typhoon Bavi hits eastern China bringing heavy rains

Typhoon Bavi struck eastern China on Saturday night, triggering widespread travel chaos and necessitating the evacuation of millions. The storm, the second major typhoon to hit the country in a week, caused the cancellation of thousands of flights and the suspension of numerous train services.

Chinese airlines reported that over 2,800 flights were likely to be canceled by Saturday evening, according to state news agency Xinhua. Shanghai's Pudong and Hongqiao airports alone were expected to cancel approximately 650 flights, representing about 30 percent of their scheduled capacity. Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport also canceled 296 flights on Sunday, though operations were planned to resume later in the day as the typhoon's intensity decreased.

Beyond air travel, train services were severely impacted. Two of the four main railway stations in the affected region canceled all services for the day, with other routes also experiencing suspensions. These disruptions underscore the storm's significant reach and power.

Authorities took extensive precautionary measures, evacuating more than 2.4 million people from areas anticipated to be in the typhoon's path. Typhoon Bavi, measuring approximately 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) across at its widest point, first made landfall in the coastal city of Taizhou, Zhejiang province, at 11:12 p.m. It subsequently made a second landfall in Wenzhou city shortly after midnight, before beginning to weaken.