Hong Kong airline worker shortage hits city’s push to reopen

Hong Kong’s goal of reclaiming its spot as Asia’s premier financial hub is being tested by a scarcity of air industry workers vital for re-establishing the city’s international links. The damage caused by years of closed borders is proving hard to undo. The number of workers employed at the Norman Foster-designed airport at the end of December 2022 was just 68% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the most recent figures provided by the Airport Authority of Hong Kong. Airlines are struggling to hire staff locally, prompting carriers to put off resuming routes shuttered during the pandemic. Qantas Airways delayed the restart of flights between the city and Melbourne by three months to mid-June because of a labour shortage at its contractor at Hong Kong International Airport, according to a source with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified as the information is not public. Manpower constraints are making it tough for local start-up Greater Bay Airlines to add flights from Hong Kong, chief executive Stanley Hui told Bloomberg News in February. Even the city’s in-town check-in service has yet to reopen, another sign of the slow pace of recovery. “The substantial loss of manpower is the crucial factor affecting the aviation industry,” said Mr Perry Yiu, a lawmaker representing the tourism sector. “The shortage includes not only pilots, flight attendants and engineers, but also ground staff and grassroots workers.”<br/>