Sarika causes flight delays

KUALA LUMPUR: At least 20 AirAsia flights heading to and from southern China were affected by Typhoon Sarika on Saturday and yesterday.

The low-cost carrier said in a statement yesterday that flights between Kuala Lumpur and Manila and from Kota Kinabalu and southern China will ne subject to cancellation or rescheduling.

The affected flights are AK 582/AK 583 (Kuala Lumpur-Manila), AK 1531/AK 1530 (Kota KinabaluGuangzhou), AK 1574/AK 1575 (Kota KinabaluHangzhou), AK 239/AK 238 (Kota Kinabalu-Hong Kong), AK 2138/AK 2139 (Kota Kinabalu-Wuhan), AK 6260/AK 6261/AK 6262/AK 6263 (Kota Kinabalu-Tawau) and AK 5109/AK 5105/AK 5115/AK 5114/AK 5135/AK 5136 (Kota Kinabalu-Kuala Lumpur).

Affected passengers are advised to check the status of their flights on the airline’s website before travelling to the airport.

AirAsia added that it is monitoring the potential impact of the storm and would continue to update customers on any changes via email and SMS.

Information is also available through live chat at www.airasia.com/my/en/live-chat.page or E-form at https://eform.airasia.com or AskAirAsia on Twitter.

Typhoon Sarika, which was located 1,248km northeast of Sandakan in Sabah at 8pm on Friday, will not hit the state, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department.

The department said in a statement the typhoon was on a “west by northwest” trajectory heading towards Luzon Island in the Philippines.

However, there was a spillover effect, with strong winds and rough seas in the northern part of the Malacca Straits, off Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

It added that the situation was expected to persist until Wednesday.

More information can be obtained at the department’s website at http://www.met.gov.my, the smartphone application myCuaca, on Facebook at malaysiamet, Twitter: malaysiamet or by calling 1300221MET(1638). – Bernama