Passengers across Asia are facing another bruising day of travel disruptions as airlines cancel and delay flights on key routes linking Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. A fresh wave of operational upheaval on February 13, 2026, has seen dozens of services grounded or significantly delayed, affecting carriers including Batik Air, Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific, VietJet, United and several regional operators. The impact is rippling through major hubs such as Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney, leaving travelers scrambling to rebook and reroute already complex itineraries.

Fresh Cancellations Hit Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong

Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport are again among the worst affected facilities in Asia, according to live flight tracking and airport operations data compiled on February 13. In recent days, Jakarta has repeatedly ranked near the top of global disruption charts, recording hundreds of delays and several cancellations in a single day as airlines struggle to stabilize schedules. That pattern has continued into the latest operational cycle, with regional and long haul flights either delayed at the gate or pulled from departure boards entirely.

Kuala Lumpur has seen a similar squeeze, particularly on regional routes connecting Malaysia to Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the wider Southeast Asian network. Passengers booked on Malaysia Airlines and Batik Air services reported late night messages notifying them of cancellations or significant retimings, in some cases within hours of planned departure. For many, the knock on effect includes missed onward connections from Kuala Lumpur to the Middle East, Europe and Australia.

Hong Kong International Airport, a major gateway for Northeast and Southeast Asia, continues to experience rolling disruption after a week in which it has already handled hundreds of delayed flights. While the latest data points to fewer outright cancellations than some regional peers, Cathay Pacific and partner carriers have had to thin out frequencies on select services to stabilize operations, particularly on routes overlapping with other congested hubs in China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Wider Asian Network Strains: Taiwan, Vietnam and Beyond

The disruption is not confined to the largest hubs. In Taiwan and Vietnam, where carriers connect heavily into Hong Kong, mainland China and Southeast Asia, schedule reliability has also deteriorated. Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport has seen a series of delayed departures and arrivals as aircraft and crews arrive late from already impacted airports in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and various Chinese cities. Even when flights operate, they often do so off schedule, undermining tight connection windows for long haul passengers heading to North America or Europe.

In Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport has emerged as a secondary pressure point, with low cost and hybrid carriers such as VietJet adjusting departure times at short notice. Services to and from Hong Kong, Singapore and key Thai destinations have proved particularly vulnerable, as those routes intersect with airspace and airport systems already struggling under waves of delays. The result has been crowded departure halls, extended waiting times at check in and security, and rising frustration among travelers who have endured similar chaos multiple times in recent weeks.

Secondary cities across the region are feeling the ripple effects. Flights from South and East Asian hubs into tourist destinations in Indonesia, coastal Malaysia and Thailand have encountered disruptions tied to late inbound aircraft and overextended crews. As cancellations cluster around specific time bands, local airports are forced to manage bursts of stranded passengers followed by periods of relative quiet, complicating staffing and ground handling plans.

What Is Driving the Latest Wave of Disruptions

The causes of the current turmoil are layered. Airlines and airports across Asia report a combination of adverse weather in parts of China and Japan, air traffic congestion around several mega hubs, and ongoing operational challenges linked to crew availability and aircraft rotations. With schedules packed close to pre pandemic levels in many markets, even modest thunderstorms or low visibility events can quickly ripple through the network and translate into systemic delays.

Some airports have also been working through infrastructure and systems constraints, including maintenance on runways or taxiways and stress on air traffic management. When airport capacity is temporarily reduced, airlines are forced to stretch turnaround times, push back low priority services, or consolidate flights where regulations and demand allow. That has translated into last minute cancellations of lightly booked rotations or off peak departures, often catching leisure travelers by surprise.

Carriers themselves are navigating tight schedules and lean staffing in certain operational roles. While most large Asian airlines rebuilt networks aggressively through 2024 and 2025, they have not always restored backup capacity at the same pace. The result is a brittle system in which a grounded aircraft or out of position crew can cause a cascade of delays across multiple countries, especially on multi leg routes connecting Australia, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.

Airlines Under Pressure: Batik Air, Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific, VietJet, United and Others

Among the hardest hit in the latest round of disruption are regional and international carriers that rely heavily on dense Asian hub networks. Batik Air, which operates a large footprint in Indonesia and extensive connectivity into Malaysia and beyond, has been directly affected by congestion at Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur as well as by broader constraints across Indonesian airspace. The airline has had to cancel and retime several domestic and regional flights, complicating onward journeys to destinations such as Denpasar, Makassar and Surabaya as well as international points.

Malaysia Airlines, which uses Kuala Lumpur as a critical connector between Southeast Asia, Australia and the Middle East, has faced difficult decisions about which services to prioritize on days of heavy disruption. Travelers report that some shorter regional hops are being consolidated or retimed to ensure long haul flights to Sydney, Melbourne and other major markets can operate with minimal further delay. That balancing act underscores the vulnerability of feeder routes that depend on punctuality higher up the network chain.

Cathay Pacific, headquartered in Hong Kong, has been contending with spillover from weather and congestion across China, Japan and Southeast Asia. The carrier continues to adjust its schedule to maintain reliability on trunk routes, particularly long haul flights to North America and Europe, while trimming some frequencies within the region. This has direct implications for travelers using Hong Kong as a connecting hub between Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and onward long haul destinations.

Low cost and hybrid airlines such as VietJet are also under intense pressure. High utilization fleets, where aircraft are scheduled for multiple quick turnarounds each day, leave little room for error when a departure is delayed or canceled. Once an early morning service slips, later rotations on the same aircraft can quickly unravel, leading to afternoon and evening cancellations. United Airlines and other long haul carriers linking Sydney and Asian hubs into North America are then forced to manage knock on effects as connecting passengers miss transpacific departures.

Long haul travelers are feeling the brunt of these cascading delays, particularly on routes bridging Asia with Australia and North America. Sydney, which depends heavily on connections through Southeast Asian and East Asian hubs, has seen passengers arriving late or not at all as Asia bound feeders are canceled or heavily delayed. When key links from Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei or Ho Chi Minh City fail to arrive on schedule, onward departures may be held, rebooked or in some cases canceled outright to avoid compounding crew and aircraft utilization issues.

For travelers beginning their journey in Australia, the experience can be equally fraught. Departures to Asian hubs operated by full service and low cost carriers are sometimes subject to rolling gate delays as airlines wait on final slot approvals or information from destination airports. Once passengers land in a disrupted hub, they may find that their onward flight to Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur or another regional city has already departed, leaving them to queue at transit desks in search of hotel vouchers, meal coupons and scarce alternate seats.

The disruption also complicates premium and corporate travel. Business travelers who rely on tight, same day itineraries through Asian hubs are discovering that meeting schedules in Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur are no longer reliably achievable, even when building in what once seemed like generous layovers. The growing sense among seasoned travelers is that Asia’s network, though largely restored in terms of capacity, has become significantly more fragile in terms of day to day reliability.

How Travelers Are Coping and What To Expect If You Are Flying

At airports across the affected region, scenes are becoming uncomfortably familiar. Long lines for check in and rebooking counters, departure boards flickering with new times and cancellation markers, and announcements urging passengers to remain patient have become daily features. Many travelers have taken to arriving even earlier than airlines recommend, hoping to secure earlier flights, standby options or at least a better spot in the rebooking queue should their service be disrupted.

Passengers with flexible tickets or frequent flyer status generally have more options. They can sometimes be reprotected onto partner airlines or rerouted via alternative hubs such as Singapore, Bangkok or Manila, depending on availability and fare conditions. However, on peak travel days when multiple countries experience concurrent disruption, spare seats can evaporate quickly. Economy passengers on heavily discounted tickets, particularly on low cost carriers, often face longer waits and more limited rerouting choices.

Those due to travel in the coming days are being urged by airlines and airports to monitor their bookings closely through official apps and notification channels. Same day schedule changes have become common enough that relying on printed itineraries or agency provided documents is increasingly risky. Travelers are also advised to allow extra time for connections, pack essential medication and a change of clothes in cabin luggage, and consider travel insurance policies that specifically cover delays and cancellations.

Broader Implications for Asia’s Aviation Recovery

The persistent pattern of widespread delays and targeted flight cancellations across Asia raises broader questions about the resilience of the region’s aviation recovery. After a rapid ramp up in capacity through 2024 and 2025, many airlines and airports are still fine tuning their operations in an environment that is more volatile than pre pandemic norms. Weather extremes, evolving air traffic restrictions and tight labor markets in critical roles such as maintenance and air traffic control all contribute to a more fragile system.

For hubs such as Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, recurring disruption risks damaging their reputations as reliable connectors between Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, Australia and beyond. Business travelers and high spending tourists may increasingly seek routings through alternative hubs perceived as more stable, even if it means slightly longer total journey times. Over time, that could influence where airlines choose to deploy their most valuable long haul aircraft and premium services.

Yet industry analysts note that the current wave of disruption also reflects the sheer density of Asia’s revived air traffic. With millions of passengers once again on the move, the visibility of every delay and cancellation is magnified. Airlines, regulators and airport operators are under growing pressure to invest in infrastructure, staff training and contingency planning to ensure that routine weather systems or technical glitches no longer produce continent spanning chaos.

Looking Ahead: What Travelers Should Watch in the Coming Days

In the short term, passengers booked to travel through Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City and associated connecting hubs should brace for the possibility of further schedule changes. Airlines will continue to tweak timetables as they work aircraft and crews back into position and as they react to real time weather and air traffic conditions. While outright cancellations may ease as the current operational bottlenecks are cleared, elevated levels of delay are likely to persist.

Travel planners recommend that passengers build in greater flexibility than they may have done before 2020. That may mean avoiding last flight of the day connections, steering clear of itineraries with very tight transfer windows, and considering daytime flights over late night departures where possible. Travelers heading to time sensitive commitments in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur or other affected cities may wish to arrive a day early to create a buffer against disruption.

Over the medium term, the industry’s response to the current crisis will shape the experience of flying in Asia. Improved communication, clearer disruption handling policies and better coordination between airlines and airports can all help soften the impact of inevitable operational shocks. For now, however, the message for travelers is clear: if your journey involves Batik Air, Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific, VietJet, United or any carriers operating through the region’s busiest hubs, stay informed, stay flexible and be prepared for plans to change at short notice.