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Flights to and from Jeju normalized after snowstorm

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An information board shows the cancellation of flights at the international airport in the city of Jeju on Korea's largest island of the same name, Dec. 2, as heavy snowfall forced the grounding of many flights to and from the airport. Yonhap

An information board shows the cancellation of flights at the international airport in the city of Jeju on Korea's largest island of the same name, Dec. 2, as heavy snowfall forced the grounding of many flights to and from the airport. Yonhap

Flights to and from Korea's southern island of Jeju were normalized Saturday, airport authorities said, after cancellations and delays caused by a strong snowstorm left tens of thousands of travelers stranded.

A total of 254 departure flights and 256 arrival flights are scheduled at Jeju International Airport on Saturday, according to the Korea Airports.

More than 280 flights were canceled the previous day as the airport closed its runways for nearly eight hours, from around 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., to clear the snow. Another 26 flights were delayed, while three planes were forced to turn back.

The disruption occurred on Thursday and Friday as a snowstorm hit the island amid a nationwide cold wave, causing passengers at the airport to wait in lines over 100 meters long to try to change their flights.

Jeju received snowfall of up to about 20 centimeters between Wednesday and late Thursday afternoon, with the peak of Mount Halla, the highest mountain on Jeju, recording a cumulative snowfall of 59.6 cm in the same period. (Yonhap)