People in Macau will not be able to travel via the Hong Kong International Airport as the new measures enforced by the neighboring authorities disallow the entry of people arriving from Macau without undergoing a 14-day quarantine period.
However, according to Macau Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, this ban will not be applied in the reverse direction. That is, Macau residents bound for Macau via the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) will still be able to return to the MSAR.
The confirmation of Hong Kong’s restriction was made by the representative of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Inês Chan, during yesterday’s daily press conference for the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.
Questioned on the topic by the media, Chan said, “from March 25, Hong Kong [authorities] will disallow the entry of Macau residents [without passing through a medical observation period]. From 00:00 on March 25, people cannot enter the Hong Kong region [via the only access currently available, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge] and so they would not be able to catch any flights in Hong Kong,” Chan clarified.
After acknowledging this, Chan was questioned as to whether the local government was considering special transportation to allow people in Macau to access HKIA. “We do not have a special vehicle to transport them. There are a lot of formalities for the enforcement of such a procedure. At the moment there is no consensus between Macau and Hong Kong on this,” replied Chan.
The current consensus concerns one-way traffic only, according to Chan.
Under the consensus, special vehicles from Macau are able to access Hong Kong International Airport in order to bring all Macau residents arriving via the airport back to the SAR. These residents would otherwise be stranded and not have a way to return home.
Air connections via the Macau International Airport do not have the intercontinental reach enjoyed by HKIA, meaning many local students currently in Europe or North America have flown or intend to fly first to Hong Kong.
Chan noted that of those that registered to return via this connection, about 800 people are due to arrive up until March 31, with a large majority (over 90%) being local students that are studying abroad.
Chan said that the special vehicle from MGTO has already transported over 100 passengers from HKIA into Macau. On Monday another 103 passengers were transported in the same way, requiring the deployment of over 10 vehicles and taking eight and a half hours to complete.
“Last night we departed to Hong Kong [International Airport] at 10 p.m. and the residents were only able to be all transported to Macau around 6:30 a.m. of today [yesterday]. So, we appeal to the residents that will be involved in this process to supply themselves with essentials, namely food and drink, and be prepared to wait patiently,” Chan said.
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