Passengers across Asia are facing a fresh wave of travel turmoil as more than 20 flights were cancelled on Tuesday, February 10, leaving travelers stranded in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The disruptions, which involve major regional and international carriers including Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, Cathay Pacific, Scoot, Garuda Indonesia, TransNusa, and Xiamen Airlines, have rippled across key routes to Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Bali, Hong Kong, and Taipei. The latest cancellations come on top of a week of recurring setbacks for Asian aviation, compounding stress for holidaymakers, business travelers, and those making long-planned family visits.
Fresh Cancellations Sweep Through Asian Hubs
The latest round of disruptions has been particularly acute at major hubs in Indonesia and Malaysia, where operational strain has been steadily building. Across the region, 29 departures were cancelled on Tuesday alone, according to operational tallies from Asian airports and carriers. Indonesia recorded the highest number of cancellations, with repeated disruptions at Jakarta Soekarno Hatta, Makassar’s Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, and Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, suggesting that the problems are deep-rooted rather than isolated or weather driven.
In Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur International Airport saw both regional and long haul flights scrubbed, including services to Sydney, Singapore, and Bangkok. Cancellations affecting Sydney and Singapore are particularly disruptive, as these routes connect Southeast Asia’s largest hub with Australia’s busiest international gateway and one of Asia’s most important transit points. The knock on effects are being felt by passengers across Oceania and Europe who rely on these flights for onward connections.
Taiwan and Hong Kong also reported cancellations, including a mirrored cancellation on the busy short haul corridor between Taipei and Hong Kong. This temporary shutdown of one of Asia’s critical international links has left hundreds of passengers scrambling for alternatives. With some routes already operating close to capacity during the winter peak, rebooking options have been limited, forcing many travelers to accept overnight stays or multi stop detours through secondary hubs.
Which Airlines and Routes Are Most Affected
The impact has been spread across a wide range of airlines, but several carriers stand out in the latest data. Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, Cathay Pacific, Scoot, Garuda Indonesia, TransNusa, and Xiamen Airlines have all reported cancellations on routes connecting Southeast Asia with greater China and Australia. At Jakarta, Batik Air is among the hardest hit, with multiple cancellations and delays clustering around domestic and regional departures, particularly to Makassar, Surabaya, Bali, and Medan.
At Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines has cancelled selected departures to Singapore and Bangkok while also trimming capacity on the Sydney route, where a combination of aircraft availability issues and tight crew rosters appears to be exerting pressure. Low cost carrier Scoot has also scrubbed services linking Singapore with Indonesian cities, further tightening already stretched connectivity between the two neighbors. These changes are reverberating throughout airline schedules as codeshare partners struggle to reposition passengers whose tickets span multiple carriers.
In Taiwan and Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific and Xiamen Airlines have pulled flights on short haul services to destinations including Xiamen, Taipei, and Hong Kong. One notable pairing of flights between Taipei and Hong Kong was cancelled in both directions, effectively removing an entire frequency from a route that normally operates at high load factors. The resulting backlog of passengers is expected to take at least a day to clear under normal rescheduling patterns, longer if further disruptions emerge.
Why Indonesia and Malaysia Are Bearing the Brunt
Indonesia once again tops the regional table for cancellations, underscoring persistent operational fragility across its sprawling domestic network. Jakarta Soekarno Hatta, Makassar, and Bali have all seen repeated cancellations on the same routes over several days, pointing to challenges that go beyond a single technical or weather event. Aviation observers note that a combination of tight aircraft utilization, limited spare capacity, and ongoing maintenance demands on aging fleets can quickly cascade into rolling disruptions when even minor issues arise.
Makassar’s Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, a key connector between eastern and western Indonesia, has been particularly vulnerable. Cancellations there not only affect origin and destination traffic but also passengers using Makassar as a transfer point between smaller Indonesian cities and major hubs like Jakarta and Bali. The result is a domino effect in which a single grounded aircraft can upend travel plans across multiple islands in a single day.
In Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur International Airport has faced its own set of pressures, from high seasonal demand to staffing and technical constraints. The decision to cancel selected services to Sydney, Singapore, and Bangkok appears aimed at stabilizing broader operations. By trimming a limited number of flights, airlines can sometimes recover schedules more quickly than by running every service with chronic delays. However, for passengers whose flights are chosen for cancellation, the immediate experience is one of disruption, uncertainty, and frustration.
Hong Kong and Taiwan Feel the Strain
While Indonesia and Malaysia have absorbed much of the impact in terms of raw cancellation numbers, travelers in Hong Kong and Taiwan are also feeling the strain. Hong Kong International Airport, one of Asia’s premier long haul gateways, has reported cancellations targeting regional routes rather than flagship intercontinental services. This pattern reflects airlines’ efforts to protect high yield long haul operations by making tactical cuts to shorter flights that can be more easily reshuffled.
For passengers booked on Cathay Pacific and other regional carriers, however, these tactical cuts still translate into long queues at customer service desks and nights spent in airport hotels. Travelers heading to or from secondary cities in mainland China and Southeast Asia are especially exposed, as there are often fewer daily frequencies to fall back on when one flight is removed from the schedule.
In Taiwan, disruptions on routes connecting Taipei to Hong Kong and Xiamen have underlined how critical these short haul links are to the island’s connectivity. Business travelers shuttling between financial centers have had to cancel meetings or shift them online at short notice, while leisure passengers face the familiar ordeal of waiting for text messages or email notifications that may or may not bring good news about rebooked flights.
Connection Chaos in Sydney, Singapore, and Bangkok
The cancellations’ impact is not limited to Asian departure points. In Sydney, Singapore, and Bangkok, onward connections have been thrown into disarray as inbound flights fail to arrive or depart on schedule. Kuala Lumpur’s reduced services to Sydney are hitting Australian travelers who rely on Malaysian and Indonesian hubs as gateways to Southeast Asia and Europe. For some, the only viable alternatives involve rerouting through the Middle East or East Asia, often at higher cost and with significantly longer total journey times.
Singapore Changi, famous for its efficiency and reliability, has not been immune. As flights from Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and other regional airports are cut or delayed, transfer passengers miss connecting services operated by a wide range of carriers. Ground staff report that while most airlines are honoring rebooking and accommodation obligations, the sheer volume of disruptions across multiple days has stretched airport and hotel capacity, particularly in peak travel windows.
Bangkok, too, is feeling the knock on effects. Cancellations affecting Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta connections are complicating itineraries for travelers using the Thai capital as a jumping off point for beach destinations, regional city breaks, or long haul flights back to Europe. For many travelers, what was supposed to be a seamless same day connection has morphed into an unplanned overnight stay and the hunt for last minute hotel rooms in already busy city centers.
How This Fits into a Broader Pattern of Asian Travel Disruption
The latest 29 flight cancellations come against the backdrop of a punishing week for air travel across Asia. On Monday, February 9, thousands of passengers were grounded as more than 4,700 flights were delayed and over 400 cancelled across Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. Tokyo Haneda alone recorded over 150 cancellations that day, with Osaka, Bangkok, Delhi, Jakarta, and Dubai all reporting heavy disruption.
By Tuesday, February 10, the numbers remained elevated, with almost 4,000 delays and 78 cancellations spread across Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and Hong Kong. Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo Haneda, Delhi, Bangkok, Singapore Changi, Hong Kong, Jakarta Soekarno Hatta, Hanoi, Phuket, and several Japanese regional airports such as Fukuoka and Kagoshima all reported significant operational stress. In this wider context, the new wave of cancellations involving Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, Cathay Pacific, and others looks less like an isolated event and more like part of a broader pattern of strain across the region’s aviation ecosystem.
Carriers and industry analysts point to a mix of factors: lingering fleet and crew imbalances after the pandemic recovery, tight maintenance windows, chronic congestion at some airports, and weather related challenges that can quickly tip already busy schedules into disruption. Once large numbers of aircraft and crews fall out of position, it can take several days of aggressive schedule management to restore normal operations, especially when demand remains robust.
What Stranded Passengers Are Experiencing on the Ground
For passengers caught up in the latest wave of cancellations, the immediate reality is queues, uncertainty, and difficult decisions about whether to wait for their original airline or seek alternative arrangements. At Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, travelers report long lines at airline service counters as staff work through rebooking options that may involve circuitous routings through secondary hubs or lengthy layovers. Some passengers have accepted reroutes via Singapore, Bangkok, or Middle Eastern hubs, while others have opted for refunds and rebookings on different travel dates.
At Hong Kong and Taipei, stranded travelers include a mix of regional business passengers and long haul customers connecting to Europe, North America, and Oceania. While airlines are generally providing hotel accommodation and meal vouchers for those facing extensive delays or overnight stays, availability can be patchy in peak periods. Families traveling with children and elderly passengers are among those most affected, often requiring assistance to navigate rebookings, transit visa rules, and special meal or seating requests.
In Bali and other leisure focused destinations, the tone is slightly different but no less fraught. Holidaymakers who had planned tightly scheduled itineraries are discovering that a single cancellation at the end of a trip can cascade into missed workdays back home, extra nights of accommodation, and additional expenses that may or may not be covered by travel insurance. Some travelers have taken to social media to document their experiences, while others quietly negotiate with airlines and agents in the hope of salvaging their journeys.
Advice for Travelers Heading to or Through the Region
With operational stress showing little sign of abating, travelers planning trips through Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or major hubs such as Singapore, Bangkok, and Sydney in the coming days should prepare for the possibility of further disruption. The most important step is to monitor flight status closely in the 24 hours leading up to departure, using official airline apps or direct contact channels rather than relying solely on third party platforms or airport departure boards.
Passengers on multi segment itineraries, especially those involving separate tickets on different carriers, should consider building in longer connection windows where possible. What might have been a comfortable 90 minute transfer in calmer times can quickly become risky when airports are processing waves of delayed arrivals and managing shifts in gate assignments. Where connections are tight, travelers may want to speak with airlines about through checking baggage and obtaining assurances on rebooking support in the event of missed onward flights.
Travel insurance with robust coverage for cancellations, delays, and missed connections is also more valuable than ever in the current environment. Policies vary widely in their terms and exclusions, but many will cover additional accommodation and meal costs when disruptions are extensive and beyond the traveler’s control. Keeping detailed records of receipts, boarding passes, and written notifications from airlines can streamline later claims processes.
Finally, flexibility remains the traveler’s strongest asset. With airlines across Asia juggling limited spare capacity and complex operational challenges, those who are willing to accept alternative routings, different departure times, or even shifts in origin or destination airports are often rebooked more quickly than those insisting on specific flights. While the latest cancellations have created frustration and uncertainty for thousands of passengers, they also underscore a broader truth about post recovery air travel in Asia: resilience, preparation, and a measure of patience are now essential carry on items for any journey through the region.