On March 25th, 2020, Emirates canceled all flights to Hong Kong UFN. This was in force until June 26th, when the started daily flights again, which lasted about 2 weeks until they reduces service to 3 per week in the middle of July, and now they have confirmed that they are cancelling all passenger flights to Hong Kong UFN.
It does indeed seem like the sun is setting for aviation in Hong Kong. The traffic numbers for June 2020 have been released, and I think it is no surprise that they are very similar to the numbers in May
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Boarding was about 30 minutes delayed, and the gate area was very crowded, but again I was offered the priority boarding, as I had paid for a priority seat (emergency exit).
Cathay Pacific has projected that they have lost around 10 billion Hong Kong Dollars in the first 6 months of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So far Cathay has not laid off any pilots, and they have historically never done so before either, but as pilot costs is a big expense for them, they are now offering some of their senior pilots aged 50 and above early retirement.
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The trip from my hotel and to Don Muang was quick and took me about 20 minutes. The cost was the same as coming from the airport, around 350 THB. As I had done online check-in I headed straight for immigration, and was through immigration and security check in a few minutes.
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Last week we saw the beginning of the 3rd wave of COVID-outbreak in Hong Kong, and the government reacted directly by imposing more restrictions again, this time also targeting flight crews who previously were exempted from testing on arrival to Hong Kong.
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After check-in was completed I headed just across the street to one of my favourite restaurants in Bangkok, the Old German Beerhouse. It has been there since my first trip to Bangkok, and have a great selection of both local and international dishes (and a good selection of beers).
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As Cathay is starting to slowly resume flights, I thought it would be a good idea to also post an update on travel restrictions around the world for those lucky enough to be able to travel.
As restrictions change all the time, it is really hard to know what is the real, latest updates, but I would recommend to go to Cathays Website and see what they have updated for all their destinations.
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Arriving at the Ambassador Hotel everything there looked just like it did the previous times I had been there. The location is excellent, in Sukhumvit Soi 11, so close to Skytrain station, shopping, restaurants and nightlife.
HK Express announces the extension of its temporary flight operations suspension to 11 July 2020, in response to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions imposed by governments around Asia Pacific. The airline plans to gradually resume flight operations on 12 July 2020, subject to market developments. Schedule adjustments will be made to the network for flights departing from 12 July 2020. Customers are advised to visit HK Express’ official website (https://www.hkexpress.com/en-hk/your-trips/important-travel-notice/) for the latest updates.
HK Express will continue to provide flexibility to customers whose travel plans have been affected, or those who are booked on flights departing on or before 31 July 2020. Customers can opt to change their travel date, travel route, refund in the form of credit vouchers or cash. Additional information is available on HK Express’ official website.
