ELEVEN airlines including FedEx, United and British Airways, is calling on Hong Kong to scrap pre-flight and on-arrival Covid-19 tests for aircrew, saying they are a key reason to avoid flying to the city, reports Bloomberg.
Hong Kong is the only jurisdiction in Asia that requires such tests, which lead to delays and the risk of staff being sent to isolate at government quarantine facilities, the group wrote in a March 23 letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, saying that procedures are disrupting operations beyond what airlines can endure.
'Hong Kong's restrictions are now an outlier globally and, importantly, at odds with best practices' established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Ms Lam announced has said some rules on travel will be relaxed in April, including the lifting of flight bans on nine countries, among them the US, and halving the amount of time incoming travellers have to stay in mandatory hotel quarantine to seven days.
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said their ability to increase flights would still be hampered by a rule that sees air routes suspended for carrying too many infected Covid passengers.
The government responded by saying it was looking into how the issue could be addressed without compromising border-control measures, a key feature of the city's Covid Zero approach.
SeaNews Turkey
Hong Kong is the only jurisdiction in Asia that requires such tests, which lead to delays and the risk of staff being sent to isolate at government quarantine facilities, the group wrote in a March 23 letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, saying that procedures are disrupting operations beyond what airlines can endure.
'Hong Kong's restrictions are now an outlier globally and, importantly, at odds with best practices' established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Ms Lam announced has said some rules on travel will be relaxed in April, including the lifting of flight bans on nine countries, among them the US, and halving the amount of time incoming travellers have to stay in mandatory hotel quarantine to seven days.
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said their ability to increase flights would still be hampered by a rule that sees air routes suspended for carrying too many infected Covid passengers.
The government responded by saying it was looking into how the issue could be addressed without compromising border-control measures, a key feature of the city's Covid Zero approach.
SeaNews Turkey
