Hong Kong bans British Airways flights until Christmas

Dhaka: Hong Kong authorities have banned British Airways from flying to the city from London for two weeks, with the flag carrier falling foul of new, stricter Covid-19 control rules.

British Airways, a popular choice with Hong Kong students studying abroad, was hit with the ban after four passengers were found to be infected with Covid-19 on arrival at the city’s airport, according to a government statement.

The punishment was triggered after the airline improperly checked one passenger’s documents in London, according to reports. The ban was understood to have caused havoc for many students booked to fly back to Hong Kong.

In a late-night statement, the Department of Health said four passengers who arrived on flight BA27 from London on December 8 were confirmed to have Covid-19 while one person failed to comply with requirements.

The department said it “thus invoked the regulation to prohibit the landing of passenger flights from London operated by BA in Hong Kong from December 12 to 25”. The carrier said it was contacting its affected customers to apologize and offer the option of flying with another airline, BA flights at a later date, or a full refund.

Flights from Hong Kong to London were unaffected by the ban and would operate as normal, the airline said.

Between November 26 and December 9, BA accounted for just four of the 76 imported cases across several airlines. By comparison, Cathay Pacific flew seven passengers from London with Covid-19 over the same period.

According to reports, the new rules meant airlines flying to Hong Kong with even a single coronavirus-positive passenger aboard faced a two-week ban if any other travelers on the flight failed to comply with pandemic control measures.

At least four airlines, including BA and KLM, are now serving ongoing bans for various breaches. The others are Nepal Airlines and Emirates. Between August and December 9, rules governing the number of allowable Covid-19 cases on flights triggered 15 airline bans. The lion’s share involved Air India and Nepal Airlines, with five and four two-week bans, respectively.