Hong Kong plans to ease Covid flight-ban criteria, duration

Hong Kong is considering easing rules on suspending flights if they bring in a certain number of Covid-19 cases, amid pressure on the financial hub to loosen one of the world’s strictest pandemic travel regimes.  

Under the plan, first reported by the South China Morning Post, the threshold for triggering the suspension of a flight will be lifted to five or more cases from the current three, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. 

Officials are also discussing whether to shorten the length of time flight routes are banned to around five days from seven, the people said, asking not to be named discussing information that isn’t yet public.

It’s yet to be decided when the shift will be implemented, the people said, with one person saying any reduction in the ban’s duration needs approval from Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Representatives for the Hong Kong government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Airlines and travelers have been frustrated by the flight suspension rules, which state any route will be suspended for seven days if three or more passengers are found to be infected with Covid on arrival in Hong Kong, or if there’s one confirmed infection and another passenger with wrong paperwork. 

The move is seen as a small gesture to address complaints from the airline industry, and decisions on a wider easing will likely be left to Lam’s successor John Lee when he takes over in July, one of the people familiar with the plan said.

Shares of Hong Kong’s main carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. were up 0.5% at the midday trading break in Hong Kong after slipping as much as 1.5% earlier. 

More than 10 routes are currently suspended, including ones flown by Cathay, Emirates and Qatar Airways. Some carriers, including British Airways Plc and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., aren’t taking bookings for flights to Hong Kong until later in the year.

Hong Kong eased some of its Covid travel curbs on April 1, lifting an outright ban on flights from nine countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and reducing mandatory hotel quarantine for inbound travelers to one week.