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Frank Chen

Southwestern China’s busiest airport was mopping up and struggling to resume operations on Sunday after a massive hailstorm grounded flights, damaged aircraft and stranded passengers.
Hailstones, some as big as fists, battered Kunming Changshui International Airport in Kunming, Yunnan province, when the storm struck early on Saturday.
The storm lashed runways, terminal roofs and some of the more than 110 aircraft at the facility on Saturday morning, with water seen seeping down into terminal concourses and air bridges.
“The airport was hit by unusually severe convective weather with intensive bursts of thunderstorms and hail. Parked aircraft were affected by hail strikes,” Yunnan Airport Group, the airport’s operator, said in a notice.

Some jets sustained visible damage to their wings, cockpits and radomes and had been taken out of service pending repairs, according to mainland Chinese media reports.
More than 70 per cent of flights on Saturday were either cancelled or delayed, and some arriving planes were diverted to nearby cities.
On Sunday morning, thousands of passengers remained stranded, and the airport group appealed for understanding, saying all aircraft on the tarmac had to undergo thorough damage inspections and airline safety assessments before they could be cleared to take off again.
It said it could still take some time to clear the backlog and that flights could be affected on Monday.
The airport is among China’s top 10 busiest and handled close to 50 million passengers in 2025.
It is the biggest aviation hub serving southwestern China and is a major connection to a number of cities in Southeast Asia. Its terminal opened in 2012.
Some stranded passengers described water pouring into the facility like “indoor waterfalls”.

The airport operator said the “extreme intensity” of the hailstorm had overwhelmed the terminal building’s drainage systems.
Local media reported that meteorologists from Yunnan University had said he hailstorm could be one of the biggest in a decade.
They added that climate change and global warming could bring more extreme weather and that Kunming should brace for more hail and rainstorms in the coming days.
The storms hit Kunming’s suburbs as well, puncturing car windscreens and greenhouses.
The Ministry of Emergency Management’s flood control headquarters also warned of flood risks, with heavy rainfall expected in multiple parts of southern China starting on Sunday and continuing until Wednesday.
The downpours were forecast to cover a wide area and advance rapidly, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Storms this month have already affected other major aviation hubs, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province, forcing widespread delays, diversions and cancellations.


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The storm hit Kunming’s suburbs as well, puncturing car windscreens and greenhouses. Photo: Handout

Some stranded passengers at Kunming Changshui Airport on Sunday described water pouring into the facility like “indoor waterfalls”. Photo: Handout

The Ministry of Emergency Management has warned of flood risks on the weekend, with heavy rainfall expected in multiple parts of southern China from Sunday to Wednesday. Photo: Handout

A strong El Nino can increase the risk of floods and other extreme weather events. Photo: AFP

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People walk under a parasol in Shizuoka, Japan, where temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, on April 11. Photo: Kyodo

People in Tokyo, Japan, walk amid unseasonably warm weather on April 11. Photo: Kyodo

People stand at a crossing near Akihabara Electric Town in Tokyo. Japan could be forced to implement measures such as planned power outages if the Iran war continues, analysts say. Photo: EPA

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is moored at a LNG berth in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture on April 8. Photo: AFP

Hail seen on Hong Kong’s outlying islands as amber rainstorm warning cancelled

A pedestrian braves the rain in Jordan on Friday. Photo: Jelly Tse

Hailstones were reported in Island district. Photo: Facebook/HKO

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Economy

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Flights grounded and aircraft damaged in Kunming as ‘unusually severe’ weather spawns hailstones as big as fists


Flights grounded and aircraft damaged in Kunming as ‘unusually severe’ weather spawns hailstones as big as fists.


Kunming

Shenzhen

Guangzhou

Southwestern China’s busiest airport hit by massive hailstorm

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Flights grounded and aircraft damaged in Kunming as ‘unusually severe’ weather spawns hailstones as big as fists

Flights grounded and aircraft damaged in Kunming as ‘unusually severe’ weather spawns hailstones as big as fists