• Hong Kong’s new govt. has reversed a long-standing flight route ban that punished airlines for bringing in coronavirus cases and severely hindered travel into the city.
• The ban was harshly criticised by people in the industry, who said Hong Kong was in danger of losing its status as an aviation hub.

Hong Kong new govt reversed a long-standing flight route ban that punished airlines for bringing in coronavirus cases and severely hindered travel into the city on Thursday, citing the ban’s “not very effective”

The once-bustling Hong Kong airport is now a relative aviation graveyard due to draconian pandemic restrictions that resemble a less stringent version of China’s zero-Covid policy.

The government of new city leader John Lee announced the suspension of the “circuit breaker” ordinance on Thursday in order to “accomplish the greatest in fighting the pandemic at the lowest expense to society.”

“At the current stage, continued implementation of the ‘circuit breaker’ mechanism is not very effective in preventing imported cases,” the government stated.

“Large number of passengers will have their itineraries disrupted due to the mechanism, and as the supply of seats on planes and quarantine hotel rooms fall short, the social costs generated will be remarkably high.”

The rule that everyone who arrives in Hong Kong must stay in a hotel for seven days will continue to make it hard to get there.

The chosen hotels are completely booked months in advance.

In April of last year, former city leader Carrie Lam put in place a rule that said planes with more than a few infected passengers couldn’t fly a certain route for a certain amount of time.

During its one-year duration, the punishment was decreased from two weeks to shorter five-day detention.

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It was harshly criticised by people in the industry, who said that Hong Kong was in danger of losing its status as a global aviation center.

Even though there has been a big coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong, more than 100 airline routes have been banned since 2022 began.

Reopening Hong Kong’s border with mainland China and the rest of the world was one of former top–cop John Lee’s campaign goals before being picked to rule the city in May.

It’s unclear how his ad admin can accomplish both goals.

Hong Kong isn’t ready to relinquish its zero-Covid policy, Lee told the legislature on Wednesday.

Hong Kong’s Covid-19 instances have risen since April.

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