Flight bans leave Hong Kong stranded as new rules freeze routes

New travel rules to curb the spread of omicron in Hong Kong look set to isolate the Asian financial hub even further, with at least four international carriers banned from operating certain routes in the month since the more transmissible variant emerged. Although Hong Kong was already hewing to the Covid-zero policy being pursued by China, authorities tightened rules again this week, mandating that if four or more passengers are confirmed to have Covid-19 on arrival from the same place within seven days, that route will be suspended for 14 days. Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific Airways have had routes from Doha and New York, respectively, put on hold until early January, while Nepal Airlines and Air India flights between Hong Kong and Kathmandu and Delhi have also been impacted. Cathay warned of several more flight cancellations on Wednesday, just days after its services from New York were suspended until Jan. 2 after three passengers on that route were found to have Covid. <br/>