New Delhi: Hong Kong’s civil aviation watchdog, the Department of Civil Aviation, temporarily suspended the operations of national airline Air India Limited in the city-state after passengers aboard the airline traveling to the region tested positive. for covid-19, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. .
Air India’s operations to Hong Kong will now remain suspended for fifteen days until October 3.
In September, the Hong Kong government tightened regulations for airlines carrying COVID-19-positive passengers aboard their flights to the metropolitan area, the South China Morning Post said in a recent report.
“Under the toughened emergency health regulations on September 15, any airline carrying five or more Covid-19 passengers, or two consecutive flights with three or more diagnosed passengers, faces the Hong Kong ban,” the newspaper said.
When contacted, Air India spokesmen did not offer comment on the matter.
A senior Air India official said the airline will write to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department to reconsider its decision.
This is the second time that the operations of the national airline to Hong Kong have been suspended. The country had suspended the domestic airline’s flights in early August after it was found to have carried COVID-19-positive passengers aboard its flights to the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
Last week, Dubai’s civil aviation authorities suspended the operations of Air India Express, Air India’s no-frills subsidiary, for fifteen days, from September 18 to October 2, after it was discovered that the Indian airline had transported passengers infected with covid-19 to Dubai.
However, hours later, the aviation authorities in the Gulf emirate revoked the suspension, allowing the Indian government airline to resume flights.
India currently has the second highest number of COVID-19 infected patients in the world, after the United States of America. The country’s total count of people affected by covid-19 currently stands at more than 54 lakh people, with 10.1 lakh active cases, according to data from the Health Ministry.
.
