Hong Kong's zero-COVID policy an opportunity for Singapore

[reader]

NOTE -- Singapore Airlines is now flying two flights out of JFK: a nonstop A350 and a one-stop (Frankfurt) A380 to Singapore.

From Channel News Asia

SINGAPORE: The pandemic has had a decimating impact on international hub airports with Asia Pacific particularly hard hit due to border closures and travel restrictions.

Changi Airport handled only 3.05 million passengers in 2021, or 4.5 per cent of the 68.3 million passengers handled in 2019.

Changi has slipped completely out of the rankings of top airports globally after having ranked seventh in 2019 for international passenger traffic and eighteenth for total passenger traffic.

Changi is hardly alone as all Asia-Pacific airports have slipped out of the top 20 international rankings. 

Airports outside Asia have done much better, having benefited from a much earlier and broader reopening of their regions and neighbouring regions. Amsterdam, Dubai and Istanbul each handled over 25 million international passengers last year.

However, Changi has performed better during the pandemic than most of its peers in Asia.

It handled more international passengers in 2021 than five of the other six main international hub airports in Asia – Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Hong Kong International (HKIA), Kuala Lumpur International (KLIA), Taipei Taoyuan and Tokyo Narita.

Changi’s biggest rival is arguably HKIA given they have nearly identical profiles – they do not have domestic markets and are major financial centres.

The two also have similar traffic breakdowns in terms of inbound (roughly 40 per cent), outbound (30 per cent) and transit (roughly 30 per cent).

Both also have been investing in the future with third runways and new or expanded terminals to support growth over the next few decades.

HKIA was slightly bigger than Changi prior to the pandemic, handling 71.5 million passengers in 2019.

Since the start of the pandemic Changi has handled about twice as many passengers as HKIA. This gap widened significantly after Singapore started reopening with vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs).

Singapore currently permits quarantine free travel from 27 countries through VTLs while seven to 10 days home quarantine options are available for about another 60 countries.

The VTL scheme has boosted passenger traffic, which reached 7 per cent of pre-COVID levels in November 2021 and 13 per cent in December 2021 (compared to November 2019 and December 2019).

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has kept its borders shut and is currently requiring 14 days of hotel quarantine for all travellers as part of its zero-COVID strategy.

Cathay Pacific Group’s passenger capacity is currently at about 2 per cent of pre-COVID levels, compared to 11 per cent in December 2021, and is expected to stay at this extremely low level until crew quarantine requirements, unique to Hong Kong, are eased.

Cathay Pacific Group passenger numbers were already very low, at 3 per cent of pre-COVID levels in December 2021 compared to 17 per cent for SIA Group.

While Singapore has a golden opportunity to benefit from the current situation in Hong Kong and become the leading Asian hub, the window for seizing this opportunity could be short and the outcome is hardly certain.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/hong-kong-airport-changi-covid-air-travel-pandemic-travel-2463651

[PeterRS]

Hong Kong's quarantine period is currently 3 weeks plus a one week period of self isolation. For visitors that effectively means another week in a hotel. From Saturday 5th, the 3 weeks is reduced to 2 but that self isolation week remains. So for most visitors is will be a full 3 weeks.