The Japanese Meteorological Agency expects Hagibis, designated Typhoon No 19, to approach Japan on October 12-13, bringing heavy rains and strong winds that can affect aviation.

Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Sompong Chingduang has ordered his staff to prepare for exigencies.

Pol Maj-General Weerapol Charoensiri, Commander of Immigration Division 2, on Saturday ordered the immigration superintendents of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports to draw up a plan to handle flight delays due to natural disasters and work with the concerned airlines to estimate flight delays every hour.

He also ordered immigration officers to man all immigration checkpoints when late flights arrive and asked airport staff to help guide passengers in preparing the documents and filling forms before entering the checkpoints to speed up the procedure. “We are also preparing extra immigration checkpoints for children, elders, pregnant women and handicapped people,” he said.

Officials announced that 10 inbound flights scheduled to depart from Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo to Suvarnabhumi from 9am until 5pm on Saturday had been cancelled and the departure times of five other flights would be changed.

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