Hong Kong – An update *

Getting to the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China presently from the UK is far from easy.

There are limited flights between Hong Kong and London at present with only Cathay Pacific offering a twice weekly service.

Less than a week after Hong Kong rolled back some of the world’s strictest inbound travel curbs, at least six airlines have had routes banned, creating havoc for travellers and further undermining the city’s role as a financial hub.

Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Korean Air Lines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines, were slapped with week-long bans this month after breaching Hong Kong’s so-called circuit-breaker mechanism. A stoppage can be applied if three or more Covid-19 cases are found on the same flight.

Virgin Atlantic Airways say they will not resume services to Hong Kong until at least September, despite the Asian financial hub easing up on Covid-19-related rules for airlines and travellers.

"To ensure operational readiness for our London Heathrow – Hong Kong passenger services, we have taken the careful decision to extend the pause in operations, with the intention to resume services from September 2022", Virgin said.

British Airways is telling customers that flights will not return until at least 28 May.

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/hong-kong/entry-requirements

www.cathaypacific.com

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Susan Smith, Holborn, London

Hong Kong was a great place to visit in years gone by. To my way of thinking it now doomed with Covid the final nail in the coffin, if that is the right term.