Coronavirus Global situation
HK travel snags persist with flight bans accelerated to one a day
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HONG KONG • Hong Kong's reopening to the rest of the world is being slowed by the government's bans on airlines for carrying infected passengers, with 11 routes in total suspended as at Monday, the most since a peak in January.
The city suspends flight routes for seven days if three or more passengers on a flight are found to be infected with Covid-19 upon arrival or when the incoming travellers do not have the required documents to enter Hong Kong.
More carriers have been affected after flight bans from nine countries were lifted at the start of this month and quarantine time was reduced, theoretically making travel to the city a little less arduous.
Services operated by Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Air India, KLM, Ethiopian Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Malaysia Airlines, and two Cathay Pacific Airways routes are now suspended.
No passenger flights from outside Asia arrived in Hong Kong on Monday and only one was due yesterday, operated by Emirates after the Dubai-based carrier completed a seventh ban.
The flight suspensions have accelerated to effectively one a day, with 20 handed out since the start of this month.
There have been 68 route bans this year, already exceeding the 51 in total from last year, when Hong Kong imposed even tighter rules on travel and quarantine.
The suspensions for carrying infected passengers were halved to seven days from April 1.
The policy has added more complication to travel plans, as airline routes can be severed at short notice, giving passengers little chance to rearrange itineraries. Some travellers are booking more than one flight so they have a back-up option if a trip falls through.
Hong Kong's slowness in reopening could be a boost to rival hubs such as Singapore and Seoul.
Korean Air Lines chief executive Walter Cho told the Financial Times that his airline is benefiting from the situation, even as he criticised the South Korean government for opening too slowly.
"A lot of people are actually avoiding Hong Kong now," he said.
Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines said on Monday it expects to operate 61 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity by next month, while Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific is stuck at about 2 per cent.
BLOOMBERG
