Hundreds of protesters blocked security gates at one of the world's largest commuter hubs on Tuesday, with passengers struggling to get through the demonstrators to their gates. 
Protesters at the Hong Kong international airport are now attempting to block the police buses outside of the airport, CNN teams on the ground report. Police in riot gear are now outside the airport entrance as well. 
Protesters at the Hong Kong international airport are now attempting to block the police buses outside of the airport, CNN teams on the ground report. Police in riot gear are now outside the airport entrance as well. 
Protests in Hong Kong have spread to the International Airport, causing flight cancellations and severe delays.
Scenes of chaos erupted at Hong Kong’s airport on Tuesday evening as riot police clashed with protesters who continued to block security gates at one of the world’s largest travel hubs.
The police made their first significant appearance at the airport since protests began there five days ago, with at least five police buses arriving at the airport after 10:30 p.m.
Protesters scrambled to set up barricades as police officers left the buses and entered the airport. Riot police appeared soon after, amassing outside the airport terminal and clashing with demonstrators.
In one confrontation, a riot police officer was attacked from behind as he held down a protester. His baton was then taken and used against him by a protestor, before the officer drew what appeared to be a pistol and aimed it at the crowd.
The police arrived at the airport during a standoff between protesters and paramedics, who were trying to reach a man accused by demonstrators of being an undercover police officer. The man appeared to have lost consciousness at one point, but protesters refused to allow paramedics to evacuate him for several hours.
Protester lines broke upon the arrival of police, allowing paramedics to successfully evacuate him.
Police said in an earlier statement that their arrival to the airport was “not an operation to disperse those assembled but is for extricating the visitor safely.”
“A visitor was assaulted and is currently being besieged by a large group of protestors at the Hong Kong International Airport. He requires immediate medical attention but the protestors concerned have been obstructing ambulance officers from rendering medical assistance,” the statement said.
Police eventually retreated from the airport, but hundreds of protesters remained late Tuesday night.
The violence came after Hong Kong’s Airport Authority announced that all check-in services had been be suspended for another night, due to terminal operations being “seriously disrupted.”
“Members of the public are advised not to come to the airport,” the authority said in a statement. All outbound flights which have not yet completed the check-in process have been canceled.
Weeks of protests
Hong Kong’s protest movement kicked off in earnest in June, sparked by a bill that would allow extradition to China.
Since then, the protests have expanded into something bigger, with protesters now demanding greater democracy and an inquiry into alleged police brutality.
The demonstrations — which on Sunday occurred for a 10th straight weekend — have seen protesters and police clash numerous times, with police firing multiple rounds of tear gas.
On Tuesday morning, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned that the city was on “the brink of no return” and said it would take a long time to recover from the recent mass demonstrations.
Beijing, meanwhile, has criticized the actions of the protesters. On Monday, a top Chinese official said the protests “had begun to show signs of terrorism.”
Last year, Hong Kong’s airport handled 74.7 million passengers — an average of about 205,000 per day.
This is a developing story, more to follow …
