Hong Kong to Give Away 500,000 Airline Tickets

In an effort to boost its Covid-damaged tourism industry, Hong Kong will give away 500,000 airline tickets worth about £225 million.

The information was revealed at the same time as Virgin Atlantic announced the termination of its nearly 30-year-old service between London and the Asian hub.

On 26th September, Hong Kong lifted its hotel quarantine rules and shortened its health surveillance period from four to three days.

According to local reports, there is now a likelihood that chief executive John Lee will provide a roadmap for normalization in his policy speech in October.

According to executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board Dane Cheng, the city’s airport authority would provide inbound and outbound travelers with the free tickets that were purchased to support Hong Kong airlines during the epidemic.

 “The airport authority will finalise the arrangement with airline companies,” he added. 

“Once the government announces it will remove all Covid-19 restrictions for inbound travellers, we’ll roll out the advertising campaigns for the free air tickets.”

The recovery of flight schedules has been difficult for Hong Kong-based airlines, with Cathay Pacific anticipating operating at just a third of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the end of the year.

The carrier said last month that it was “totally committed to strengthening the connectivity of the Hong Kong aviation hub” and welcomed the elimination of the requirement for arriving passengers to stay in hotels under quarantine.