Two airports in South China's Hainan Province -- Haikou Meilan International Airport and Sanya Phoenix International Airport -- cancel more than 520 flights till Tuesday noon as Typhoon Sarika approaches.

Typhoon Sarika, the 21st typhoon of the year, made landfall at Hainan Province Tuesday morning. The tropical cyclone, packing maximum winds of 162 km per hour, landed at Hele Town, Wanning City, at 9:50 a.m., according to local meteorological bureau.

Local forecasters said they expect Sarika to be the most powerful and devastating for the island over the last decade.

Haikou airport has suspended operations at 11:30 p.m. local time on Monday and cancelled 281 flights as of 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, but the air traffic is expected to be restored after 16:30 local time, the airport authority said.

Sanya airport has cancelled 248 flights as of 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, including 111 inbound and 137 outbound flights. 36,000 travellers were affected by the cancellations. Stranded passengers have been accommodated.

The typhoon which lashed the Philippines over the weekend is expected to hit Vietnam tomorrow, with Northern provinces there on high alert.