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Hong Kong bans transit passengers from Singapore and 150 other countries

Hong Kong will suspend transits by passengers from almost all countries starting on 16th January, leading Singapore Airlines to axe its SQ7/8 San Francisco flights next week.

There’s bad news for almost everyone with flight bookings involving a transit at Hong Kong International Airport, with authorities there clamping down on the Omicron variant by almost completely shutting down the ability to transit through the hub for a month, starting this weekend.

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The plan was originally reported by Danny Lee over at Bloomberg on Tuesday, but has since been confirmed by the local authorities.

From midnight (0.00am) on 16th January 2022 to 11.59pm on 15th February 2022, anyone with a 21-day travel history including one of over 150 ‘Group A’ countries, which Hong Kong considers high-risk and includes Singapore, will be unable to transit through the airport with any airline.

In order to control the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19, from 16 January to 15 February 2022, passenger transfer / transit services via Hong Kong International Airport for any persons who have stayed in Group A specified place(s) in the past 21 days will be suspended.

Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport. (Photo: Sorbis / Shutterstock)

The current list of Hong Kong’s ‘Group A’ countries as of 15th January 2022 is available below (long list – click to expand):