Hurricane Polo has exploded into a rare category 5 storm off Mexico’s Pacific coast, the aftermath of Typhoon Dujuan has left thousands of travellers stranded in Japan, and Belgium’s Charleroi Airport faces dozens more cancellations today as its air traffic control strike continues. Here is today’s wrap of the disruptions affecting travel, plus the delays still clearing in the United States.
Hurricane Polo reaches category 5 off Mexico’s Pacific coast
Hurricane Polo has rapidly intensified into a category 5 storm, with the US National Hurricane Center recording sustained winds of around 260 kilometres per hour as of Tuesday morning, when the storm sat roughly 350 kilometres south of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero. Polo’s core is forecast to turn north-west and track offshore past Mexico’s south-western coast over the coming days, but coastal Guerrero and Michoacán could still see 100 to 200 millimetres of rain, with isolated falls to 300 millimetres, raising the risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides in steep terrain. A tropical storm watch remains in place from Tecpan de Galeana to Manzanillo. Clients with Mexican Riviera itineraries through Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas or Mazatlán should check with their cruise line or airline for possible schedule changes this week.
Typhoon Dujuan aftermath strands thousands at Narita
Typhoon Dujuan has left four people dead and six missing across Japan’s Kanto region, with landslides in Chiba and Kanagawa blamed for most of the fatalities. Nearly 4,000 travellers were stranded at Narita Airport at the peak of the disruption after the rail link connecting the airport to Chiba Station collapsed, and East Japan Railway’s Narita Line remains suspended entirely, along with several connecting lines. More than 46,000 households in Chiba Prefecture remain without power. Airport authorities have been providing stranded passengers with sleeping bags, water and food while rail services are restored. Clients transiting through Narita this week should confirm ground transport options with their airline or transfer provider before travelling, rather than assuming rail links are running.
Charleroi airport strike cancels dozens of flights again today
Air traffic controllers at Brussels South Charleroi Airport are striking overnight for the eighth night running, with the airport expecting 42 cancellations today: 12 flights this morning and a further 30 this evening, plus 14 more operating to a revised schedule. Ryanair, which operates the bulk of Charleroi’s schedule, is the most affected carrier, with routes including Edinburgh, Dublin, Milan Bergamo, Venice and Budapest among those disrupted. The nightly action, running from 10pm to 8am over a pay dispute tied to a planned control-tower consolidation, began on 16 September and is scheduled to continue until 10 October. Clients flying into or out of Charleroi, particularly on early-morning or late-evening services, should check their flight status directly with the airline before travelling.
Barcelona airport strike drags on into its eighth week
Ground-handling staff at Barcelona’s El Prat airport remain on indefinite strike, with Groundforce workers now more than seven weeks into action since the dispute began on 4 August. Well over 150 flights have been cancelled since the strike started, and no fresh talks between the union and management have been reported. Madrid’s Barajas airport also continues to see recurring stoppages on its automated baggage system, scheduled for Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays through to 30 September, though today falls outside that pattern. Agents with clients flying through either airport this week should build in extra time for check-in and baggage handling, and confirm current flight status directly with the airline.
Delays continue to clear in the US north-east
North-eastern US airports are still working through the backlog left by Monday’s telecommunications failure, which cut a fibre-optic line used by air traffic control equipment and forced the Federal Aviation Administration to pause flights at Newark, JFK and Teterboro, with knock-on delays at Boston and Philadelphia. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed operations had resumed by Monday evening, but warned it would “take some time to clear all existing delays.” Monday’s disruption alone produced more than 1,000 cancellations and 6,000 delays nationwide. Clients flying through Newark, Philadelphia or Boston in the next day or two should still expect above-average delays and check flight status before heading to the airport.
