The International Air Transport Association has revised Hong Kong’s recovery to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024. This comes on the back drop of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government’s efforts to ease the city’s labor crunch in the aviation sector.
“The situation is looking bright for Hong Kong. China’s earlier than expected reopening is providing a much-needed boost to the passenger recovery. By the end of 2024, we expect to see Hong Kong’s traffic return to pre-crisis levels. And it is encouraging to see the Hong Kong government preparing for this with measures to ensure that the workers needed to support the recovery are available,” said Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA.
The Hong Kong government introduced a labor importation scheme to ramp-up the airport workforce by 6,300 workers from the Mainland of China. While demand for air travel has been strong, airlines in Hong Kong have been struggling with supply chain issues and a labor shortage.
“The last three years have been devastating for the aviation sector. As we look ahead to the recovery and prepare for future growth, it is important that the entire Hong Kong aviation community, including airlines, airport, regulator, and government, work together to address the challenges and are well prepared to tap on future opportunities. I look forward to being in Hong Kong in August to meet with various partners and engage in fruitful discussions,” said Walsh.