Flights grounded and aircraft damaged in Kunming as ‘unusually severe’ weather spawns hailstones as big as fists
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenFrank Chenin ShanghaiPublished: 4:27pm, 26 Apr 2026Southwestern China’s busiest airport was mopping up and struggling to resume operations on Sunday after the biggest hailstorm in decades grounded flights, damaged aircraft and stranded passengers.
The storm lashed runways, terminal roofs and some of the more than 110 aircraft at the facility on Saturday morning, with water seen seeping down into terminal concourses and air bridges.
“The airport was hit by unusually severe convective weather with intensive bursts of thunderstorms and hail. Parked aircraft were affected by hail strikes,” Yunnan Airport Group, the airport’s operator, said in a notice.
Some jets sustained visible damage to their wings, cockpits and radomes and had been taken out of service pending repairs, according to mainland Chinese media reports.
