Coronavirus: Hong Kong airport to close concourse as number of passenger flights plummets by two-thirds
- Midfield concourse was home to ailing Hong Kong Airlines, which slashed 170 jobs earlier this week
- Futuristic rectangular building opened in 2015 at a cost of HK$10 billion now being used to house parked jets
Hong Kong International Airport is preparing to consolidate all flights into the main terminal building, mothballing a newer concourse that sits between the two runways, as passenger flights into and out of the city drop by two-thirds.
The Airport Authority will seek to temporarily close the building – known as the midfield concourse – though no final decision has been reached as discussions with affected stakeholders, such as retailers, are ongoing according to sources. But many key facilities have already started relocating services into the main terminal building.
A number of countries have restricted or outright banned entry for people who have recently been to mainland China – and in some cases also Hong Kong – including the United States, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines.