A total of 16 flights bound for Macao were diverted to other nearby airports due to the bad weather Saturday night, the International Airport Co.Ltd said.

Fourteen departure flights were also canceled or delayed and two other scheduled arrival flights canceled for the unfavorable meteorological condition. Over 1,000 passengers flying in from Bangkok, Taipei, Singapore, Souel, Nanjing, Chengdu, and Shanghai were affected.

As of 23:00 (GMT 1500), 16 flights were diverted to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Gaoxiong airports, according to the airport management sector.

Macao Meteorological Bureau said that south wind blew strongly in the afternoon, in addition to the 600-inch low height of cloud, so all the airliners had to land on the northern runway, and some flights could not land because of wind direction and technical matters.