Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines chooses China’s National Day for maiden flight

Greater Bay Airlines (GBA), bidding to be Hong Kong’s newest carrier, will make its inaugural flight on October 1, the 72nd anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The National Day flight, which will take place amid an ongoing surge in coronavirus outbreaks around the globe, will be a charter to Beijing, according to the company’s director. While a timeline has now been set, GBA is still awaiting its operating licence and air operating certificate. It expects to get the latter, which covers the commercial and safety requirements necessary to take-off, on September 17, Stanley Hui Hon-chung said. “In a nutshell, the airline is taking shape,” the director said, while tempering expectations given the collapse in travel demand amid the pandemic. GBA’s flight to Beijing was a deliberate decision, “symbolic” of the airline’s development plan to operate regular flights to the capital and nationwide, Hui said. But the seasoned airline executive expressed unhappiness with unnamed competitors, accusing them of slowing down the company’s bid to take flight, despite no rival having objected to its operating licence bid. “We have been reminded time and again to ensure that we comply with the ATLA [Air Transport Licensing Authority] regulations in the areas of Incorporated and Principal Place of Business [IPPB] and financial strength,” an exasperated Hui said of the application process that began in December.<br/>