A total of 48 scheduled arrival and departure flights at the Sibu Airport have been cancelled today following the skidding of a Malaysia Airlines MH2718 flight upon landing last night.

Sibu Airport manager Zainuddin Abu Nasir said out of the total cancelled flights, 28 flights were MASwings, 16 AirAsia flights and four Malaysia Airlines Berhad flights.

He said the flights involved are to and from Johor Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Bintulu, Miri and Kuching with 3,787 passengers affected by the cancellations.

"The airlines involved have made the decision to cancel their flights.

"We expect the operations at the Sibu Airport to return to normal by 8pm once works to remove the aircraft is completed," he told reporters at a media conference here today.

The aircraft from Kuala Lumpur, which was carrying 61 passengers and six crew members, skidded upon landing during a heavy downpour in the 10.17pm incident here last night.