Hong Kong bypassed? European airlines warn they can’t add flights while Covid-19 restrictions remain for travellers, aircrew

"Several major European airlines have warned that they will not be able to add more flights to Hong Kong if the city’s Covid-19 restrictions remain while the rest of the world opens up rapidly following the decline of the pandemic.

The carriers said they were more likely to fly to places with fewer or no restrictions, including places that allowed aircrew to move about freely during layovers."

Michelle Chu, co-chair of the European Travel and Tourism Council within EuroCham, spoke with Laura Westbrook, Senior Reporter at the South China Morning Post. Michelle explained that although Hong Kong had eased some restrictions on May 1, some airlines had missed the planning window to deploy aircraft, people, and resources to the city for the summer as demand had risen faster in destinations with fewer or no restrictions, such as Europe and North America.⁠