Hong Kong has grown more isolated as aviation hub, head of global airline association warns

City’s status as aviation hub has been ‘severely impacted’ by travel restrictions, says Willie Walsh of International Air Transport Association

Walsh also calls Washington’s tit-for-tat response to Beijing’s suspension of flights by US carriers ‘unhelpful’

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Hong Kong has imposed some of the world’s harshest travel restrictions to contain Covid-19. Photo: May Tse

Published: 12:38am, 26 Jan 2022Updated: 2:39pm, 26 Jan 2022

Hong Kong as a top aviation hub has become increasingly isolated during the pandemic while the rest of the world has started to open up to international travel, the head of a global airline association has warned.

The director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Willie Walsh, said on Tuesday the city’s status as an aviation hub had been “severely impacted” by travel restrictions as it fought the fifth wave of the coronavirus.

“I think Hong Kong has become increasingly isolated,” he told a media briefing.

Walsh also weighed in on Sino-US tensions, saying the decision by Washington to suspend 44 flights after Beijing imposed similar restrictions on American companies was “unhelpful”.

Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association. Photo: SCMP Pictures

As many countries have eased travel restrictions and adopted a strategy of living with the virus, Hong Kong and mainland China have stuck to a “dynamic zero-infection” approach, under which local cases are expected but steps are taken to identify transmission links and cut them off as quickly as possible.