'Booking Flights A Challenge Despite Travel Ban Lift'

The Travel Industry Council (TIC) said on Thursday that even though the Hong Kong government will lift a ban on flights from nine countries next month, it will still be quite challenging for people to book flights in and out of the city.

That’s because airlines have been unable to substantially boost their service capabilities due to ongoing Covid restrictions in the SAR, including tight quarantine rules for aircrew.

The TIC’s executive director, Fanny Yeung, made the comment after travel website Expedia said searches for inbound flights increased three-fold in the 48 hours after the government’s announcement on Monday, with about a quarter of the searches coming from Britain.

It also said searches for outbound flights rose 90 percent, with London, Bangkok, and Vancouver being some of the most popular destinations.

Yeung said while there is generally a higher desire for people to travel, many airlines’ hands are tied when it comes to increasing services.

“The capacity has been reduced because of the social-distancing ban, and also the crew supply, it is also an issue for the airlines,” she said. 

“The number of [searches] has increased tremendously over a few fold, that is not only because of the demand for travel, it is also because it is difficult to look for a suitable flight or an appropriate flight to really fly on.”

Yeung also cautioned against arranging group tours for now, after a local travel agency, EGL Tours, announced it is recruiting tour guides in preparation for possible international trips within this year.

“[For] travel agencies, it still may not be the time yet for them to arrange group tours to any destinations, because they still have to go through the seven-day quarantine after returning. And talking about a group to get hotel rooms for this period, it is really a very difficult task.”