Hong Kong ‘loses its status as an international hub’ as a reaction to China’s zero-COVID policy

Long before individual Chinese mainland airports began their rapid growth in the late 1990s, Hong Kong International (HKIA) was like a beacon for the entire region as a gateway to China and indeed, to much of North and Southeast Asia.

But the prolonged pandemic in China and Hong Kong, and the vain attempts there to achieve 'zero COVID' by locking people up for months on end, have dealt the airport and Cathay Pacific a body blow such that neither appears to have the wherewithal to bounce back from the canvas, according to IATA's Director General Willie Walsh.

This report adds some statistical meat to Mr Walsh's concerns and concludes that he is right.