Coronavirus: four rescue flights from Hubei province cost Hong Kong HK$7.4 million
- The cost works out at an average of HK$15,770 for each of the 469 evacuees aboard
- The city has brought back more than 1,000 residents from the mainland Chinese province since the outbreak began
The first four chartered flights to bring Hongkongers back from one of the epicentres of the coronavirus pandemic cost taxpayers about HK$7.4 million (US$950,000), officials have revealed.
The sum, disclosed in a government reply to lawmakers about the latest budget spending on Wednesday, means an average cost of HK$15,770 for each of the 469 evacuees aboard the flights from Hubei province.
The paper also revealed that the Immigration Department spent another HK$17,000 on the operation.
“The central government has shown care about the operation,” the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, which will shoulder the cost of the flights, said in the paper. “This operation has provided valuable experience for future reference.”
Since late January, Hong Kong’s government has come under public pressure to bring citizens stranded in Hubei and other parts of the world back to the city, as the spread of the coronavirus has accelerated.