Things went from bad to worse for airfreight shippers and forwarders in Hong Kong yesterday, as the territory’s government banned more international routes in response to an increase in Covid-19 cases.

It announced flight bans from eight countries for two weeks, starting on Saturday, affecting all flights from the US, Canada, the UK, France, Australia, the Philippines, Pakistan and India.

And, in a separate announcement, the authorities barred flights from South Korea after three passengers tested positive for the virus on arrival from Seoul.

In less than six weeks, Hong Kong has imposed flight bans on 24 routes. The latest affect the likes of Air Canada, Air India and Philippines AirAsia, but Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has borne the brunt of these measures.

When the authorities tightened rules and voided quarantine-related exemptions for flight crews late last year, management announced it might be forced to merge passenger and cargo flight schedules, but after further restrictions on 30 December, the airline announced it was suspending all longhaul cargo flights – freighters and passenger aircraft deployed on cargo missions – for seven days.

Director of flight operations Chris Kempis explained that it was impossible to transition overnight to closed loop operations and that management needed time to consider all factors, including hotel availability for quarantined crews.

Today, Cathay announced the resumption of longhaul freighter flights, but at a seriously throttled-down level.

“We regret to inform customers that due to the latest aircrew quarantine measures imposed by the Hong Kong SAR government in view of rising Omicron cases around the world, there will continue to be very substantial reductions to Cathay Pacific Cargo’s longhaul capacity in the first quarter of 2022,” the cargo division posted on its website.

For the most part, the airline will deploy its freighters on shorter sectors. Throughout the quarter, Cathay (CX) will operate seven weekly freighter flights to the Americas and none to Europe.

The hits on the airline’s cargo flights have made it harder for forwarders to secure lift out of Hong Kong.

“Cathay is the 800-pound gorilla out of Hong Kong,” said Neel Shah, VP airfreight at Flexport, while Simon Yam, executive director – international freight forwarding of the Hong Kong branch of Kerry Logistics, added: “Any impact on CX would definitely impact Hong Kong’s position as an aviation hub in the global supply chain.”

He added that Kerry had been able to move its traffic on its own controlled lift and charters, and both he and Mr Shah noted that the impact had been relatively moderate so far, as cargo volumes are usually low at this point.

Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific said: “We are monitoring the situation and are working closely with customers to determine the best course of action for affected air freight shipments.

“If needed, we can utilise alternative capacity and tap on our broad range of partner carriers who are less affected by the new crew quarantine policy. DHL Global Forwarding also runs additional charter flights on the transpacific route.

“We also offer alternative transport modes that include trucking into Pudong airport in Shanghai and Zhengzhou airport for uplifting to the US and Europe markets.”

Mr Shah expressed concern that the situation could deteriorate quickly as infection rates continued to climb.

“It’s not as if the airport is completely buried in freight, but it will be soon if there is no relief,” he said.