brunos

EK380 arriving into Hong Kong has been full with pax tested positive upon arrival:
https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/flights_trains_en.pdf
Arriving 21 June,20 pax tested positive, On 20 June, 26 pax tested positive. In addition, 11 wanted to transit to mainland China while HK transit does not allow transit to mainland China.
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...nsit-barred-10

EK should never have allowed these pax onboard. They did not even have the right to enter HK. Big mistake.

S c 0 TT y

Ouch.

Im surprised given how strict? the procedures are meant to be in Dubai.

sealsgod

not 100% EK wrong, as in political correct HK is China, there should have no issue for China reject Chinese passenger transit though a China city, and what I read the news is passenger need to have boarding pass before arrive HK, this is passenger respond as EK not selling ticket for transit from HK to their final China city. Passenger should be make sure they have no issue at all when they transit in HK under the new transit rule. I think if those chinese have ask in here before, so many advice can help them get the correct ticket and back to their own home town already. For those huge COVID positive case, I concern EK will slow down their speed on resume operation as now DXB try to move back to the connection hub for between europe and asia

moondog

This is currently a BIG issue because it's not permitted.

paperwastage

Even though it's passengers responsibility to make sure they have valid documents for transit/entrance

The airline still needs to validate passenger docs before boarding.


In pre-covid days, this means someone tried to enter/transit a country, but not permitted to. Airline has to fly passenger back* and gets massively fined. Airline may try to recuperate these costs from passenger

*Obviously not happening immediately with covid-positive passengers

Isochronous

Sounds like a massive mess.

hkskyline

Were these passengers on 1 thru-ticket, which should have been stopped by the system? Or they purchased 2 one-ways so EK could not see and stop them in DXB?

iFlyMoreThanYou

exactly what i was thinking

brunos

I don't think that it makes a difference.

Either they had manage somehow to get a single booking X-HKG-China:
HonKong transit restrictions are crystal clear
Transit requirements

From 1 June 2020, air transit services at Hong Kong International Airport resumed in phases. Passengers will be able to transit through Hong Kong if:

• Their itinerary is contained in a single booking
• They meet the entry requirements of their final destination
• They have their baggage checked through to the final destination
• They have been issued their onward boarding pass(es) from their origin and
• The connection time between flights is within 24 hours.

Transit restrictions
In this first phase, transiting to and from destinations in Mainland China is not available.

EK should not have allowed them to board.

Or they had two one-way tickets:
EK should allow them to board only if they are Hong Kong residents. From local rumors, these did not qualify, hence being trapped in airport for a few days. All but one refused to fly back to Dubai (free) and I guess that force was not used given the covid risks.
Entry restrictions
Effective from 25 March 2020 (00:00 HKT), only Hong Kong residents with following documents will be permitted to enter Hong Kong:

• Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card
• Hong Kong SAR passport or British National (Overseas) passport (with right of abode in Hong Kong)
• Hong Kong Identity Card (this needs to be accompanied with a valid work or study visa)

Non-Hong Kong residents will be denied entry into Hong Kong.

sealsgod

Thanks for your information, so why HK are not happy with EK? because EK refuse to take back the passenger? those Pakistan passenger final get positive result even they already do a covid test before?

Mcflyneo

After getting tested and receiving your health doc, there are many places you can get infected during travel, especially in a terminal. Question is how often this occurs.

Longton

And it's easy to get a negative Covid-19 certificate in Pakistan even if a person has Covid-19.

Emirates had recently announced a suspension of flights to and from Pakistan.

Dave Noble

If, as mentioned, they were transitting HKG to mainland Chine and transitting to mainline China is not allowed, then Emirates transported passengers to Hong King who should not have been permitted to board

brunos

As mentioned above, EK should not have allowed those pax onboard as EK is well aware of the transit rules.
This is not directly related to covid. We don't know the results of their test.
Of course, EK offered a free ticket to Dubai, but the pax refused and apparently staid in the transit area for some days before getting tested.
BTW: another 12 infected pax on EK380 arriving 23 June

889

There's a hint in some of the reports that the Chinese passengers were well aware they couldn't transit, but thought that if they got past airline check-in -- somehow -- then HK authorities wouldn't stand on formalities and would let them return to the Mainland. Maybe Mainland authorities would have been flexible in a similar situation, but HK authorities aren't. So the passengers sort of went on strike and just sat in the airport for days, refusing to fly back on EK as they were instructed. Now they're in HK quarantine for two weeks. Interesting to see where they'll be sent when that's finished.