Cathay Pacific said the Hong Kong government's latest move to lift all remaining Covid-19 restrictions will help boost local aviation and increase connectivity in the financial and air cargo hub.

It added that the scaling back of pandemic rules will also help further boost sentiment for travel, especially among inbound visitors, thereby facilitating the resumption of travel activities and strengthening of network connectivity at the Hong Kong aviation hub.

"Cathay Pacific welcomes the Hong Kong SAR Government's latest measures to facilitate travel to Hong Kong, especially the decision to remove the Amber Code restrictions under the Vaccine Pass for inbound persons entering Hong Kong effective 14 December 2022," the Hong Kong-based carrier said.

The Cathay Pacific Group, which includes passenger airlines Cathay Pacific and HK Express, has already added about 3,000 passenger flight sectors in the fourth quarter of this year with more destinations set to be resumed in 2023.

"The Group remains fully committed to rebuilding the connectivity of the Hong Kong international aviation hub. As a Group, we are on track to achieve our target of operating up to one-third of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity levels by the end of 2022," Cathay said.

"We anticipate that we will be operating around 70% of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of 2023, with an aim to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024," it added.

Earlier this month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it will take a "considerable time" for Hong Kong to recover its status as a global aviation hub as airlines remain hesitant to allocate more capacity to the financial and aviation centre amid constantly changing pandemic restrictions in the city.

Willie Walsh, IATA's director general said Hong Kong as a hub has "clearly been severely impacted" as a result of the Covid-related restrictions and noted that "without question," other hubs are benefitting from the problems that Hong Kong has experienced.

"The recovery of Hong Kong as a global hub, I think will take some considerable time," Walsh told a media briefing, adding that airlines got "fed up" with unpredictable travel rules in the city — and Hong Kong needs some sort of "stability" in its regulations first before confidence from carriers to return in full swing will be restored.

"It's not just the relaxing of the restrictions, it's having confidence that those restrictions won't be reintroduced," Walsh earlier said.

Hong Kong lifts all restrictions on arrivals

On December 13, Hong Kong lifted all restrictions on arrivals to the city and ended its previously implemented '0+3' scheme for travellers that test negative from December 14 onwards.

This means that those arriving in the city no longer need an "amber code" on their health app which earlier restricted them from entering certain establishments. Hong Kong also scaled back some requirements for its residents, among others.

Nonetheless, those arriving arrivals must take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test at the airport and on their third day in Hong Kong. They also need to take a rapid antigen test (RAT) for five days. 

Hong Kong chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu noted that the move was based on "data and risks."

"The infection risk from imported cases is lower than the risk from local infections. We believe that the lifting will not increase the risk of local outbreaks," the Hong Kong chief said.

Various reports said Hong Kong's latest announcement will be followed by mainland China also announcing "larger changes" in its pandemic measures ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday from January 22.