In China and Hong Kong it has already hit many airlines and now Lufthansa: The crane is not allowed to fly to the Chinese special administrative zone for around two weeks. The background to this is that Hong Kong claims that too many corona cases have been “flown in”.

The ban came into force on January 5, 2022 and is expected to apply until January 18, 2022. This does not apply to freight and ferry flights. The operation was already complicated before, because the Special Administrative Region is also quarantining flight crews. Therefore, a stopover was made on the Hong Kong flights and pilots and flight attendants from the local crew base took over.

Both China and Hong Kong are penalizing airlines that, in their view, “import” too many corona cases. In the past, many carriers have already cashed including Austrian Airlines, such flight bans for passenger connections.