Strict air cargo crew quarantine in Hong Kong

Hong Kong cargo capacity has been massively reduced following a tightening of aircrew quarantine restrictions, in a bid to stop the rising trend of imported Covid-19 cases with the Omicron variant.

Following latest aircrew quarantine measures imposed by the Hong Kong government in response to the increase in Omicron cases globally, cargo freighter capacity out of Hong Kong will reduce significantly throughout Q1 of 2022 with airlines minimising scheduled long-haul services.

Flight bans have been imposed from eight countries for two weeks, starting last weekend, affecting all flights from the US, Canada, the UK, France, Australia, the Philippines, Pakistan and India.

In less than six weeks, Hong Kong has imposed flight bans on 24 routes. The latest affect the likes of Air Canada, Air India and Philippines AirAsia, but Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has borne the brunt of these measures.

Some airlines have announced an 80% reduction in capacity and even cancellation of all flights to Europe with only a couple of flights a month scheduled to the US (from Hong Kong) in the first quarter of this year.

In parallel and for aforementioned reasons, some airlines have also advised that temporary suspensions of passenger services between the UK and Hong Kong will be extended into February 2022, cancelling all bookings made up until then.

This overall reduction in capacity will severely impact cargo bookings and will likely increase cost due to significantly reduced space availability.

The consequences of these cargo policies mean that there are almost no goods entering or leaving Hong Kong via cargo flight and local commentators expect some goods to be unavailable or their price to go up, with food, electronics and medicine among the worst affected.

Returning air crew now need to quarantine for seven days in a hotel, having earlier been asked to isolate at home for three days..

We’re working closely with our partner airlines on exploring alternative options to secure capacity on these routes and will continue to keep you updated.

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to discuss your supply chain, please contact us.