Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday urged Japan to lift restrictions on direct flights out of the city imposed after the explosion of COVID-19 cases in mainland China.
These restrictions include restricting direct flights from Hong Kong to four airports: Narita and Haneda in Tokyo, Kansai in Osaka and Chubu in Nagoya.
Affected airlines will continue to be able to fly empty planes to restricted airports to pick up stranded passengers in the coming days, according to Hong Kong authorities.
The Hong Kong Ministry of Transport said it was “deeply disappointed by this hasty decision by the Japanese authorities during the peak tourist season”.
He also said he had contacted the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong to “solemnly” request a lifting of this measure, which is due to take effect on Friday.
As of Friday, Japan will also require arrival screening for passengers arriving from China, but this does not apply to travelers arriving from Hong Kong and Macau.
Japan was one of the first countries to impose China-specific travel restrictions this week as mainland infections surged after Beijing’s sudden abandonment of what it called a zero-COVID policy.
Hong Kong had adopted a less stringent version of China’s so-called “zero-COVID” strategy while imposing some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions. They left the business center isolated for more than two years.
The city has only recently begun to lift these restrictions by ending mandatory hotel quarantine for all September arrivals.
Since then, travel has increased, and Hong Kongers are dying to take vacations and visit loved ones abroad.
Japan lifted its own restrictions on foreign arrivals in October and also saw a surge in travel.
In May, only 700 arrivals from Hong Kong were registered at airports in Japan. In November, that number rose to 83,000.