Exclusive | Emirates to send transit passengers stranded in Hong Kong airport back to Dubai and suspend transfer of travellers through city
- Ten transit passengers currently undergoing quarantine in city will be flown back to Dubai after their isolation ends on Saturday
- Others still living in the airport’s transit zone include a Canadian trying to get to Vietnam and a mainland resident who has refused free flights back to London
Ten passengers who were stranded at Hong Kong International Airport after arriving on an Emirates Airlines flight will be sent back to Dubai upon completing quarantine, with the carrier temporarily suspending transit flights to the city.
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), the airport’s operator, introduced stricter penalties on July 1 for airlines flying unauthorised passengers to and through the city, after discovering 11 people travelling with the Middle Eastern carrier had been stuck in the transit zone for five days after failing to present valid boarding passes for mainland China.
The transit fiasco has brought to light the ordeal of several other passengers in similar situations, including a traveller from Canada who has been living at the airport for three months now.