Staff shortages dent Hong Kong air hub’s reboot hopes

Regional airlines are struggling to ramp up flights to Hong Kong because of staff shortages at the airport, slowing the city’s plan to recapture its travel hub status, industry insiders have told AFP. Hong Kong once had one of the globe’s busiest – and best-connected – airports. That evaporated during the Covid-19 pandemic as the authorities imposed more than two years of travel curbs and quarantine rules. The business hub has begun reopening, with leader John Lee proclaiming in November that “Hong Kong is back”. But around 20 regional Asian airlines have been unable to restart or increase services to the city despite months of negotiations with ground handling services, five airline executives told AFP, asking not to be named. The executives complained that ground handling companies were upping fees by 30 to 100% and prioritising parent companies or mostly Chinese airlines that they have close, or direct, business ties to. Some warned it was becoming difficult to convince their headquarters to keep a presence in Hong Kong. “What an irony to say ‘Hong Kong is back’,” one of those interviewed told AFP.<br/>