Letters | Delay in delivery warning on airmail would suit Hongkong Post better

Reading Time:1 minute

A member of staff sorts letters at Hongkong Post’s Central Mail Centre in July 2018. Photo: SCMP

Published: 6:05am, 16 Sep 2020Updated: 6:05am, 16 Sep 2020

Hongkong Post’s response to the various recent letters you have published was welcome, and understandable to the extent that the sharp drop in the number of flights to the United Kingdom and other countries caused by Covid-19 must have affected the normal efficient airmail service we have long enjoyed in Hong Kong (“Why Hongkong Post’s airmail services are still disrupted”, September 11).

It does, however, seem unnecessary for the service to have been “suspended” on March 27. It would have been sufficient to say that with the loss of carrier capacity, the airmail service would regrettably be less efficient than usual and that deliveries which were previously made well within a week would now take somewhat longer.

In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that suspension of the service, which certainly applied in March and April, is no longer the case. I am aware of three cards sent to the UK in May, July and August arriving at their destinations between nine and 12 days after posting in Hong Kong. Clearly these did not go by sea mail.

What therefore is still needed is a clear statement from the post office that airmail services are available, albeit with the caution that delivery will take a little longer than what used to be the case.

Patrick B. Paul, Mid-Levels