Hong Kong blocks UK flights in latest restriction against British travellers

The UK is now classed as ‘extremely high risk’

Hong Kong Peak Tram Photo Gallery (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Hong Kong will reintroduce its ban on passenger flights from UK from 1 July as it becomes the latest territory to impose restrictions on British travellers.

Flights from the UK to the territory were previously barred from December 2020 to May.

The move is to curb the spread of the Delta variant, the government said today.

The UK is now classed as “extremely high risk”. Passengers who have stayed in the UK for more than two hours would be banned from boarding flights to the city, it said.

The government said this comes “in view of the recent rebound of the epidemic situation in the UK and the widespread Delta variant virus strain there, coupled with a number of cases with L452R mutant virus strains detected by tests from people arriving from the UK”.

Hong Kong’s move follows a number of other countries that have restricted access to Britons due to the Delta variant.

Malta, which was placed on the UK “green list” for travel last Thursday, has restricted access to arrivals who have been fully vaccinated. It applies to everyone over the age of 12.

Meanwhile Portugal, which was shunted to the amber list earlier in June, has said that all British arrivals who are not vaccinated must quarantine for two weeks from today.

Today Spain, which last month said it would accept Britons without any test requirement at all, has said all British arrivals over the age of 12 must either be fully vaccinated or have a negative PCR test certificate.