Hong Kong travel challenges grow as flight ban climbs to 100

HONG KONG (Bloomberg) – Hong Kong suspended flights from three airlines on Monday (July 4), bringing its ban this year to 100, as the city continues to impose onerous Covid-19 travel restrictions while flights outside China Rest of the world has lifted restrictions and allowed freer access.

Emirates, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways are the latest airlines to be penalized for carrying passengers infected with Covid-19.

The ban would be triggered if 5% or 5 or more people tested positive for the flight on arrival. Bans and fines are also issued for passengers with improper paperwork.

The grounding of flights comes as Hong Kong slowly eases quarantine rules that have prevented many people from leaving the hub for more than two years.

The city’s new chief executive, Li Jiachao, said in a television interview on Sunday that the quarantine policy for international arrivals may be adjusted.

Bloomberg reported last week that the government was considering reducing the time that incoming travelers must quarantine in a hotel room to five days, followed by two days at home.

The current requirement is to quarantine for seven days in a hotel, down from 21 days before the pandemic.

The flight ban, which lasts five days, is another burden and concern for travelers already tasked with finding hotel rooms for quarantine and queuing up for Covid-19 tests to return to cities. If flights are banned, well-planned hotel bookings fall through the cracks.

Things could get worse as air travel increases during the summer holidays and more people try to enter Hong Kong.

Six bans have been issued in July, the same number as in all of June. Meanwhile, many other places now do not require incoming travelers to be tested for the coronavirus or to show documentation of vaccinations at all.

Hong Kong International Airport reported 4,749 passenger arrivals and 5,810 departures on Sunday, the busiest day of the pandemic, according to official immigration data.