Contributor - Middle East

Peter Shaw-Smith

Hong Kong could soon emerge from the quarantine situation that has held it back for the last two years, Chris Barrow, director of flight operations at Hong Kong Business Aviation Center (HKBAC), told AIN.&nbsp;As evidence of recent progress the city has made, he cited recent government announcements on the easing of movement restrictions.

 


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With effect from October 4, the Hong Kong government revised the designation conditions for flight personnel, which would no longer involve restrictions on&nbsp;non-local crews. On September 23, it announced the lifting of compulsory quarantine requirements for inbound travelers as of September 26, to be replaced by three days of mandatory medical surveillance.

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Once all restrictions are lifted, Barrow is confident that business will return quickly. “As a city, Hong Kong is a very good international base for people trying to enter China—or even just Asia in general,” he said. “Globally, it’s known that Hong Kong has been facing strict quarantine regulations over the last couple of years, which are even continuing now. During that time, we’ve had fairly low aircraft movements, mainly due to the processes of actually entering Hong Kong.”

 


At times, entry to the city was closed to tourists and only possible for Hong Kong residents; many of them did not have time to do quarantine, which at the height of the pandemic lasted for up to three weeks. In the past six months, isolation periods have been reduced to seven days and then three.

 


Until recently, quarantine hotels—which faced capacity limits on rooms—also restricted people from flying in due to the requirement for a hotel room booking, which became increasingly difficult because of the numbers involved and the scarcity of available rooms. “Those types of restrictions affected our business and most businesses in Hong Kong,” Barrow noted. “As restrictions have started to relax a little, it makes it easier to travel.”

 


Barrow is assured that in the coming months, or even weeks, passengers and crew will be able to disembark at the HKBAC lounge, which quarantine regulations previously did not allow. “We’re starting to look at how we can get back to normal and make sure that our operation can handle that,” he said.

 


At the height of the pandemic, many Hong Kong-based aircraft were parked, sold, or changed location. Some moved into China to operate domestically as that market was still available, while others took the opportunity to rebase in the U.S. and conduct maintenance tasks in downtime. “Ultimately, once they can travel freely, it’ll be more convenient for them to remain in Hong Kong,” Barrow remarked.

 


<h2>Growing in China’s Greater Bay Area market</h2>

 


With a population surpassing 70 million, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area consists of nine cities and two special administrative regions and is a major driver of the Chinese economy. The region considers itself a rival to the New York City, Tokyo, and San Francisco conurbations.

 


“The Greater Bay Area is the next growing market, and we’re in a prime position to be able to handle [it],” according to Barrow. “The forecast is that it’s going to be bigger than some U.S. regions and we’re still focused on how we operate and how we connect with those particular areas. One area of focus is a cross-boundary helicopter, to assure faster, smoother travel.”

 


Hong Kong International Airport also invested in a three-runway system. The third runway is now open for use, enabling the airport to continue as a two-runway system until around 2025, while the center runway is upgraded. Historically, business aviation slots have been hard to come by in Hong Kong, and the three-runway system will make it easier to exceed previous capacity.

 


“We have a $400 million investment that we are going through at the moment, which we agreed to with Hong Kong Airport Authority in April 2021,” he said. “That would give us a lot more VIP rooms, a lot more space, a new customs, immigration and quarantine hall area, all of the types of things that our passengers have said they look for, to enable us to be a bit more up to speed with some of the facilities commonly found around the world.”

 


HKBAC opened in 1998, as soon as Hong Kong International Airport moved from Kai Tak Airport to Chek Lap Kok. Five operators run aircraft management, charter, and maintenance services under HKBAC: Jet Aviation, Hongkong Jet, Metrojet, TAG Aviation, and HK Bellawings Jet. HKBAC’s three hangars can accommodate BBJ- or ACJ-size aircraft. Depending on the size, there is space inside for around 13 or 14 aircraft.

 


“The trend is toward larger aircraft [such as] the new Gulfstreams and Bombardier Globals,” Barrow reported. “We don’t have a current plan to increase hangar space, but we plan to increase our facilities to allow our customers to pass through a lot easier.”

 


Mainland opportunities are also important to HKBAC’s future development, and while dialogue with certain areas in China exists, formal agreements to set up the putative “HKBAC China” have yet to be reached. The setup is generally different to Hong Kong and dependent on which airport is involved.

 


“We’re certainly interested in expanding into China,” Barrow concluded. “It would be an ideal situation, but it’s not necessarily easy to enter that market. Certainly, most companies would be interested in having FBO locations inside China. At HKBAC, we would certainly be open to doing that.”

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