“There was just nothing we could do,” the British businessman said, recalling how his family waited with other stranded Hong Kong residents, some in tears.

That was only the beginning of a week-long delay for James, his wife and two children, who were returning to the city after their first trip to Europe in two years to see relatives.

It was a scramble working out travel options, and he eventually decided to fly on Turkish Airlines to Bangkok and then switch to another airline to get to Hong Kong.

“It is very stressful. You do not know if you’re going to be travelling,” he said, adding that the disruptions also cost the family an additional HK$20,000 (US$2,550).

Online searches soar after Hong Kong says it will lift flight ban

While residents generally welcomed the easing of some travel restrictions from April 1, many said it was disruptive and costly each time an airline had a route suspended for seven days. Experts had also warned that Hong Kong’s reputation as an aviation hub was being hurt too.

There have been 65 flight route bans so far this year, with 11 affecting nine airlines in the past week alone. Aside from Turkish Airlines, the latest to be handed week-long bans were KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Qatar Airways, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates Airlines, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Ethiopian Airways.

In easing restrictions at the beginning of the month, Hong Kong lifted a ban on travel from nine countries and halved the compulsory hotel quarantine for returning residents to seven days.

The suspension period for airlines that bring in three or more passengers found to be infected with Covid-19 was halved to seven days.

Airlines also face a suspension if one or more passengers on a flight test positive and fail to comply with rules on hotel quarantine bookings and pre-departure tests.

According to the Airport Authority, there were 251 passenger flights from April 1 to 13, after the travel ban on countries including Australia, Britain, the United States and the Philippines was lifted.

While that was 77 more flights than over the March 19 to 31 period, travel data company ForwardKeys said more Hong Kong residents were flying out than travellers arriving.

With flight suspensions still in place, airlines have been cautious about increasing or resuming flights to Hong Kong.

The city’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways was slapped with three bans last week on its London, Jakarta and Vancouver to Hong Kong routes

According to its website, there are only four flights from London and Manchester, four from the United States and seven from Australia this month.

Emirates, banned seven times this year, said it was committed to offering daily flights to Hong Kong “despite strict pandemic measures imposed by the local authorities on both airlines and passengers”.

Although bookings were healthy, its spokeswoman said: “We do not have plans to ramp up until restrictions are eased in Hong Kong.”

Virgin Atlantic Airways confirmed to the Post that it would not resume flights from London until September, while British Airways responded to customers on Twitter that it would not fly to Hong Kong until at least May 29.

‘No doubt’ Hong Kong is a top aviation hub: Carrie Lam

Residents who spoke to the Post have described the stress and chaos that has resulted each time Hong Kong authorities announced a flight ban.

Three said they resorted to booking tickets on multiple airlines just in case one was slapped with a suspension.

Leo, 60, a Hongkonger working in insurance, said he booked a Qatar Airways flight from London to Hong Kong via Doha on April 16, but it was issued a ban on April 6. The same route from Doha to Hong Kong was again banned from Saturday for a week.

He said he felt lucky that he had paid another HK$11,000 to book a seat with Turkish Airlines, with its route ban lifting the day he is due to land on Sunday.

Leo said the suspensions were discouraging airlines from increasing flights and did not help Hongkongers either.

“We need to pay a high price and work hard to get tickets and hotels, which is all a deterrent to many people,” he said.

Johannes Hack, chief executive of the German Chamber of Commerce, said that while the reduced period of hotel quarantine had helped, “it would be even better to have certainty around flights, particularly inbound ones”.

Simon Lee Siu-po, an honorary fellow at Chinese University’s Asia-Pacific Institute of Business, agreed that companies needed to be able to plan ahead, which the current rules did not allow for.

He himself was caught out by the Emirates flight ban from Bangkok and booked a new ticket via Singapore. He recommended that travellers buy the best travel insurance available, as that covered the HK$4,000 he had spent on the new flight and a night in a hotel.

But Lee said he was not optimistic about Hong Kong’s prospects for recovery as an aviation hub, as others, such as Singapore, were already opening up to international travel.

“It takes a long time for airlines to build up a critical mass. I don’t think the traffic will suddenly reappear,” he said.

*Name changed at interviewee’s request.