ASIA PACIFIC. Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific has welcomed decisions by the governments of Japan, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei to relax COVID-related restrictions on international travel. However, it has called on the Hong Kong government to take immediate further actions to revitalise the economy.
The trade body lauded significant decisions by governments that will not only restore freedom of travel but also provide much-needed impetus for aviation industry recovery.
The recent positive decisions on removing travel restrictions come as a massive boost to the aviation industry, ACI Asia-Pacific said, at a time when Asia Pacific risks losing its position as the world’s biggest civil aviation market for 2022 (for more on this, see our report here).
ACI Asia-Pacific Director General Stefano Baronci, said “Our continuous dialogue with national authorities has finally paid off. ACI Asia-Pacific and its 617 airports welcome the decisions by the Governments of Japan, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei for taking significant steps to relax COVID-related restrictions on international travel.”
Japan had maintained strict border measures since the outbreak of the pandemic, having effectively blocked entry to visitors for two years until it began a gradual reopening in June.
Chinese Taipei also announced its plan to remove inbound quarantine for international arrivals by 13 October. Previously, arrivals were required to quarantine in hotels for three days followed by four days of self-monitoring.
According to the latest guidelines from the Hong Kong government, all international arrivals will be able to return home or to accommodation of their choice but will have to self-monitor for three days after entering the Chinese special administrative region.
Calling for more action, Baronci said that ACI Asia-Pacific expects the Hong Kong government to do away with the three-day restrictions to avoid further dampening of the economy.
“Owing to the prolonged restrictions on in-bound travel, Hong Kong has lost its position as the busiest airport for international traffic in Asia. Immediate actions are required to revitalise the economy.”
He added: “We hope to see more positive developments coming from China in relaxation of COVID measures for international [flights].”
Earlier this month, ACI Asia-Pacific wrote a letter, co-signed by ACI World and World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), to the Prime Minister of Japan, urging the government to remove all restrictions and restore the travel privileges to enable smooth recovery of the industry in the region.
This was a continuation of ACI Asia-Pacific’s earlier engagement with the Japanese government by providing it with a research sample on travel restrictions. This revealed that curbs such as quarantine were ineffective in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
