(VIN): The government of Hong Kong has again banned Air India from flying into the Asian financial hub amid concerns over the import of Covid-19 cases.
Hong Kong authorities on Friday banned India’s national carrier and Vistara, a joint venture of Tata and Singapore Airlines, for 14 days after the two carriers reportedly brought in about 10 infected passengers to the city.
This is the third time in about two months that the Hong Kong government banned Air India for carrying in coronavirus-positive passengers. The Chinese special administrative region’s rules say any airline flying in five or more infected passengers on one flight or six passengers on consecutive flights will be banned for two weeks from reentering the city.
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So far, four passengers returned positive results for the virus from the Delhi-Hong Kong AI-314 flight on October 15 alone. They accounted for four of Hong Kong’s six imported Covid-19 cases on Friday.
Before that, three virus-infected passengers were found on each of the previous two Delhi-Hong Kong flights of October 4 and 7.
Air India’s second Hong Kong flying ban was lifted on October 4. The airline was first banned from entering Hong Kong amid the pandemic in August.
India, one of the world’s worst coronavirus-affected regions, was already on Hong Kong’s list of high-risk countries, along with countries such as Bangladesh, Britain, Pakistan, and the United States. People from these countries require to carry Covid-19-negative certificates while entering Hong Kong. They are also required to self-isolate or quarantine themselves for two weeks in a hotel in the city upon arrival.
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Air India had been running special evacuation flights to and from Hong Kong as part of the Vande Bharat Mission.
India has already entered into travel bubbles with 17 countries to allow their respective airlines to carry passengers maintaining specific safety protocols amid the pandemic. But Hong Kong, which has fared better in containing the pandemic compared to many other major places in the world, is not on the list.
