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Oscar Liu

Theodora Yu

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has extended the suspension of all flights to and from Dubai until the end of March amid the war in the Middle East.
The airline announced on Tuesday that all services between Hong Kong and the commercial hub in the United Arab Emirates would be cancelled up to March 31.
Flights travelling between the city and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will also be suspended until the end of the month.
The move extends an earlier suspension that had been set to run until March 14, following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
“We’re continuing to monitor the situation closely,” Cathay said in a statement. “Further changes to our flight schedule may be needed in the coming days, with the safety of our customers and people being our first priority.”
The move follows a week of heightened regional instability that has forced several global airlines to divert flights or avoid certain airspace entirely as a precautionary measure.
To mitigate the impact on travellers, Cathay said it had activated a comprehensive ticket waiver policy for those booked to travel between Hong Kong and the two Gulf cities up to April 30, allowing affected customers to rebook, divert or refund their tickets without the usual administrative fees.
The carrier earlier extended its suspension to March 14 due to safety concerns with flights travelling between the city and Dubai and Riyadh.

At present, both Emirates and Qatar Airways offer services between Hong Kong and Dubai and Doha, respectively.
According to the carrier’s website, Emirates is operating one direct flight and two services via Bangkok from Hong Kong to Dubai on Wednesday. Of the three return flights on Thursday, two involve a stopover in Bangkok while one is direct.
Qatar Airways is set to operate a flight from Doha to Hong Kong on Wednesday, with the return service scheduled to arrive back in the Qatari capital on Thursday.
Hong Kong resident and Christian pastor John Snelgrove, 72, was informed that his outbound Cathay flight on March 15 had been cancelled.
He and his wife were stranded in Dubai last week after attending a large conference over the weekend when the strikes took place.
They decided not to wait for the Cathay flight and instead booked seats on Emirates, with assistance from Hong Kong’s Immigration Department, arriving back in the city on Monday night.
“We are so pleased to be home,” he told the South China Morning Post. “The Immigration Department was fantastic for liaising with Emirates. A staff member with the department even rang me today and asked if we were home safe.”
He said Cathay had promised to refund the return ticket.
The government said nearly 450 people who had contacted the Immigration Department had safely departed the Middle East as of 5pm on Tuesday. That included about 20 who returned to Hong Kong via government-arranged flights, it said.
It added that the about 380 residents still in the Middle East were reportedly safe, including about 200 who had indicated they no longer required help.
The department would continue to provide travel and flight advice to the rest, including offers to help arrange return flights from the UAE and Qatar, the government said.
“The government has contacted residents in the area and is coordinating with the Chinese embassy in Qatar and the consulate general of Qatar in Hong Kong to prioritise seats for those with urgent needs,” it said.
Steve Huen Kwok-chuen, executive director of EGL Tours, said that eight Hongkongers – the last of its customers stranded in the Middle East – were expected to arrive in Hong Kong from Dubai on Tuesday evening.
“We have a team handling special cases, dealing with customer inquiries … It wasn’t until today, when we finally saw them successfully board the plane, that we could drop everything and relax,” he said.
Huen said about 85 customers had their flights disrupted by the conflict, but all except those eight had earlier returned to the city.
The agency had given a token payment of HK$500 (US$64) per day to stranded passengers to subsidise their food and accommodation costs while they waited for the latest updates on their return flights, spending about HK$300,000 to HK$400,000 in total, he revealed.
Travel agencies Wing On Travel, WWKPG and Goldjoy Travel told the SCMP that all their tour groups stranded in the Middle East have safely returned to Hong Kong.
Freddy Yip Hing-ning, managing director of Goldjoy Travel, said his agency had arranged road transport for some customers to travel from Jordan to Cairo in Egypt before flying to Beijing and then returning to Hong Kong.
The detour, which avoided Middle Eastern airspace, cost about HK$10,000 per person.
“It was sky-high prices, but you had to snatch the flight tickets while they were still available,” Yip said.
The regional conflict, which began with US-Israel strikes on Iran and rapidly escalated following retaliatory attacks by Tehran, has thrown Middle Eastern air traffic into disarray, causing tens of thousands of flight cancellations.
As of Tuesday, more than 43,000 of the 78,500 scheduled flights in the Middle East have been cancelled since the start of the war on February 28, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.


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Cathay extends flight suspension to Dubai, Riyadh until March 31 amid war

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Hong Kong couple’s HK$50,000 exit from Dubai after ‘biggest blunder’ amid Iran war

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific planes at Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Jonathan Wong

John Snelgrove and his wife, Sandra, flew back to Hong Kong from Dubai on Monday on an Emirates plane with the help of Hong Kong’s Immigration Department. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong authorities rule out chartering Cathay Pacific flights to Middle East

A plane flies as smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Cathay passengers bemoan refund policies as US, Israel exchange strikes with Iran

Flights to the Middle East from Hong Kong have been cancelled during the conflict. Photo: Dickson Lee

Yan (centre) has said he will fly back to Wuhan for the time being. Photo: Dickson Lee

Ramon Sulid (centre) has said he is prepared to fly back to the Philippines if he cannot return to his job in Saudi Arabia. Photo: Dickson Lee

News

Hong Kong

Transport

Heightened regional instability has forced airlines to divert flights or avoid certain airspace in Middle East entirely as a precaution


Heightened regional instability has forced airlines to divert flights or avoid certain airspace in Middle East entirely as a precaution.


Cathay extends flight suspension to Dubai, Riyadh until March 31 amid war

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Heightened regional instability has forced airlines to divert flights or avoid certain airspace in Middle East entirely as a precaution

Heightened regional instability has forced airlines to divert flights or avoid certain airspace in Middle East entirely as a precaution