‘Running from a war’: Post reporter finds her way home to Hong Kong on anxiety-ridden flight and through airport chaos as coronavirus hammers travel
- From frantic travellers at Heathrow packing a house into their luggage to eerily silent plane passengers, city locals, mostly students, flee crisis-hit Britain
- Hong Kong tries to manage airport queues as arrivals get split into different areas and have to fill up a litany of forms
London’s Heathrow Airport on Wednesday morning was less crowded than usual with the country in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic. But those who were there seemed like they were part of a mass migration.
Each person had two or three pieces of heavy luggage in tow, while some others were frantically repacking items, their bags thrown open on the floor.
“Everyone is carrying so much stuff it’s like they are moving houses,” a Qatar Airways counter staff member said. Apologising for the wait, she said people were probably planning to leave Britain for an extended period until the health crisis waned.
Joseph Yung, 24, a Hongkonger who is a master’s student at the University of London, said: “It is as if we are running from a war.”
“I originally planned to stay until June, but now I feel it is safer to go back,” he continued. “I fear there may be a massive epidemic in Britain soon and people here may not know how to handle it.
“The awareness for protection is rather weak … They have not experienced Sars and their response has been very slow.”