16 SIA & Scoot flights to & from S'pore cancelled due to Super Typhoon Bavi approaching Taiwan

A total of 16 flights by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot departing, arriving, or transiting at Taipei have been cancelled due to Super Typhoon Bavi.

The typhoon churned southeast of Taiwan on Jul. 9, with winds close to 200kph, Reuters reported.

It is forecast to affect the island most severely the following two days, according to Taipei Times.

Flights affected

Midnight on Jul. 9, SIA announced on their website that four flights scheduled for Jul. 11 have been cancelled.

They are SQ876 and SQ878, from Singapore to Taipei, and SQ877 and SQ879, from Taipei to Singapore.

Two flights scheduled for Jul. 10 — SQ878 from Singapore to Taipei, and SQ879 from Taipei to Singapore — have been postponed to depart a few hours later that same day.

SIA added that other flights may be affected "as the situation remains fluid", and advised customers to check their flight status online.

The airline's budget arm Scoot also put up an advisory on Jul. 8 to state that four flights operating on Jul. 10 and eight on Jul. 11 have been cancelled.

All the flights have a stopover in Taipei between Singapore and Tokyo, or Singapore and Seoul.

Scoot explained that the flights were cancelled as a precautionary measure "due to the adverse weather conditions caused by Super Typhoon Bavi".

"We will continue to monitor the situation with Typhoon Bavi and adjust our flight schedules as necessary," it added.

Rebook or refund

Both airlines apologised and said they will be contacting all affected customers to inform them about the flight cancellations or schedule changes.

They can choose to either rebook their flights or a request for a full refund.

Those who booked the flights through travel agents or partner airlines can contact their travel agent or purchasing airline directly for assistance.

Super Typhoon Bavi

Bavi is set to be the largest ⁠storm by size to hit Taiwan since 1987, a forecaster at Taiwan's Central Weather Administration told Reuters.

He added that storms of this size have been "fairly rare in recent years".

The typhoon is projected to skirt northern Taiwan before making landfall in Fujian, China, in the evening of Jul. 11, according to China's National Meteorological Centre.

It is also expected to approach Japan's Okinawa prefecture. Officials are urging residents to be on high alert on Jul. 10 and 11 for violent winds, landslides, flooding, and storm surges.

Japan Airlines cancelled 48 domestic flights scheduled for Jul. 10 because of the typhoon, affecting roughly 7,610 passengers.

Other airlines, including Tigerair, China Airlines, and China Southern Airlines, have also postponed or cancelled flights due to the typhoon, Taipei Times reported.