Vietnam Airlines cancels flights ahead storm touchdown

National carrier Vietnam Airlines said Monday it would suspend services to the central tourist centers of Da Nang and Hue through Tuesday, ahead of a typhoon moving towards the country’s coast.
The airline stopped its flights to the two cities from mid-day Monday for 36 hours, it said in a statement. Flights on Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City and other international routes will operate as scheduled.
Luong Truong An, a senior manager at Vietnam Airlines, said there was no official figure for the number of flights and passengers affected by the decision. Local newswire VnExpress said at least 40 flights of the airlines would be canceled.
Another local carrier, Jetstar Pacific Airlines, said Monday it would keep an eye on Typhoon Ketsana before making a final decision. The carrier managed to maintain its service through Monday.
Ketsana, upgraded from a tropical storm after devastating the Manila area, has killed at least 140 people in the Philippines. Philippines President Gloria Arroyo called Ketsana “a once-in-a-lifetime storm.”
The typhoon was forecast to move west at about 14 kilometers an hour in the general direction of central Vietnam. Vietnamese weather forecasters expected the country’s central region to be hit Tuesday night.