Air India flights got a shock as they were banned by the government of Hong Kong. The government of Hong Kong on Sunday barred all flights from Air India after an increase in the number of coronavirus disease cases, as per the local media reports. Many local outlets cited Hong Kong’s Health Department as saying that the flights of Air India and Cathay Dragon have been suspended till October 3 after passengers who boarded were found to be infected with Covid-19. Cathay Pacific said in a statement that five passengers from India who were on a Cathay Dragon flight between Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong on September 18 tested positive for Covid-19, even after they submitted negative nucleic acid tests before their trip.

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Earlier, the passengers were on an India Express flight. Hong Kong recorded the highest number of new infections in almost a month. One-third of the 23 new cases were of people who had recently travelled from India, as per the Centre for Health Protection. Only four local infections were reported. Hong Kong had banned flights operated by Air India in August too. These flights were part of the Vande Bharat Mission.

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The Vande Bharat Mission started in early May to bring back Indians who were stranded abroad due to travel restrictions in wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Air India Express flights were excluded for 24 hours on Friday by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) for bringing two passengers with COVID-positive certificates on August 28 and September 4. As per the UAE government rules, each passenger travelling from India is required to bring an original COVID-negative certificate from the RT-PCR test done 96 hours prior to the journey.

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