China travel bans from Late 2022

[Tad]

I am looking forward then to cheaper tickets. Used Finnair to book flight to Berlin. The cheapest was on 31 December!! Means fireworks en route

You should be OK flying to Germany for now. The return with Finnair via probably HKG will be an interesting part.
I am flying with Finnair to Syd via HKG on 8/1/23. Finnair washes its hands of as far as providing info on COVID restrictions beyond where they fly to i.e. HKG. They refuse to answer (point to information) on whether transit passengers via HKG might be affected.

FINNAIR fantastic (not) help:
"I am very sorry may advise is to call the proper authorities" "Everything which is on Google works"

The last leg of my trip to Syd is with Cathay, so I will try to monitor their info as well as news from AU for arrivals via HKG.
For now US requires tests for all flying from Mainland, HKG and Maccau, but again no info specifically on transit e.g. via HKG. I am sure AU will follow US path shortly; the question is how soon?

 

[Mr H]

FINNAIR fantastic (not) help:
"I am very sorry may advise is to call the proper authorities" "Everything which is on Google works"

This is perfectly sensible advice. It is unreasonable to expect AY to stay on top of every change in regulations - it is the passenger's responsibility to find out about the regulations and ensure they comply with them.

 

[Tad]

This is perfectly sensible advice. It is unreasonable to expect AY to stay on top of every change in regulations - it is the passenger's responsibility to find out about the regulations and ensure they comply with them.

Good luck if you want to be sure and find an authoritative information.
At the airport, in transit, quote "Google says" and you are off the hook.
Have a look at the way Emirates report information and use it as an example for other airlines. They are not providers of the information; just bring links together, based on your itinerary.
Too difficult for lazy airlines it seems.

 

[Pushka]

Too difficult for lazy airlines it seems.

Their passengers are from countries all over the world and have very different requirements for visas etc. Why would they even touch it!

 

[tomlee1986]

Singapore Airlines unlocks free WiFi for all passengers

KrisFlyer members can soon scroll to their heart’s content as unlimited Internet takes off on almost every flight.

www.executivetraveller.com

Why would Qantas be hesitating here or means they are unprepared?

Post automatically merged: Dec 30, 2022

Qantas cautious on resuming flights to China

The actual link in question about China and Qantas.

This is just personal opinion... Qantas is not unprepared but more cautious - which I personally agree... it is not just about Covid, but also the geopolitical risk such as being held for "crimes" by cabin crew for "drug trafficking" - (I am saying this in quotation marks because the staff may be innocent but being held hostage by CCP against the western world like Australia in return of accepting unfavorable treatment of hkers in hkg" - Remember the 2 Michaels from Canada because of Meng Wenzhou arrest in Vancouver Airport??

Detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[tomlee1986]

Well looks like China is a significant step closer to being fully open from early Jan. Hopefully this will see the return of more Chinese carriers and help to correct the airfare prices (especially to Europe).

That said, Japan has just reintroduced testing for passengers who have been in China in the previous 7 days… 3 years on and the cycle begins again

Now UK is doing the same now

Covid: England to require negative test for arrivals from China

The UK says it is acting over concerns about infection data provided by the Chinese government.

www.bbc.com

 

[Mr H]

This is just personal opinion... Qantas is not unprepared but more cautious - which I personally agree... it is not just about Covid, but also the geopolitical risk such as being held for "crimes" by cabin crew for "drug trafficking" - (I am saying this in quotation marks because the staff may be innocent but being held hostage by CCP against the western world like Australia in return of accepting unfavorable treatment of hkers in hkg" - Remember the 2 Michaels from Canada because of Meng Wenzhou arrest in Vancouver Airport??

Detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Tom, your insistence on saying CCP instead of Chinese Government makes you look a Trump conspiracist and significantly detract from any credibility your posts might otherwise have.

 

[tomlee1986]

Tom, your insistence on saying CCP instead of Chinese Government makes you look a Trump conspiracist and significantly detract from any credibility your posts might otherwise have.

I think i did mention i gave this "government" 0 credibility that it ever deserves if any?? I would NEVER recognise them as legitimate government - just my personal comment -also the reason why i never supported them is because I can NEVER enter HKG again because of my anti CCP views on HKG since 2019, I am born in HKG with Chinese blood and heritage, now I lost my homeland because of CCP! why would i ever support them?? you can tell me why

 

[Mr H]

Now UK is doing the same now

Covid: England to require negative test for arrivals from China

The UK says it is acting over concerns about infection data provided by the Chinese government.

www.bbc.com

And then we will have retaliation, and then we will have universal testing in case people have transited in third countries. We have taken three years to dismantle all this and risk putting it all back in place for the sake of political posturing.

 

[tomlee1986]

And then we will have retaliation, and then we will have universal testing in case people have transited in third countries. We have taken three years to dismantle all this and risk putting it all back in place for the sake of political posturing.

so be it... this retaliation will happen no matter what... and it is actually time to decouple with mainland china completely because of not just this virus but human rights records in Xinjiang, hk and its threat of war on taiwan!

 

[Mr H]

so be it... this retaliation will happen no matter what... and it is actually time to decouple with mainland china completely because of not just this virus but human rights records in Xinjiang, hk and its threat of war on taiwan!

That is a different argument altogether. Are you trying to (mis)use Covid as a pretext for a wider political ambition?

 

[tomlee1986]

That is a different argument altogether. Are you trying to (mis)use Covid as a pretext for a wider political ambition?

never misuse it... but just look at covid, where did it come from first? and as to this wave... where is the worst area now? China

 

[Mr H]

I think i did mention i gave this "government" 0 credibility that it ever deserves if any?? I would NEVER recognise them as legitimate government - just my personal comment -also the reason why i never supported them is because I can NEVER enter HKG again because of my anti CCP views on HKG since 2019, I am born in HKG with Chinese blood and heritage, now I lost my homeland because of CCP! why would i ever support them?? you can tell me why

You may find various Alt Right web groups are a better place for your political discussion than a frequent flyer forum.

 

[Mr H]

never misuse it... but just look at covid, where did it come from first? and as to this wave... where is the worst area now? China

You really need to decide whether closing borders with China would be (a) to protect our health now, (b) to punish China for being the source of the virus, or (c) to punish China for its human rights record. Because right now you seem to be all over the shop and it looks like rent seeking.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And then we will have retaliation, and then we will have universal testing in case people have transited in third countries. We have taken three years to dismantle all this and risk putting it all back in place for the sake of political posturing.

That is a different argument altogether. Are you trying to (mis)use Covid as a pretext for a wider political ambition?

You really need to decide whether closing borders with China would be (a) to protect our health now, (b) to punish China for being the source of the virus, or (c) to punish China for its human rights record. Because right now you seem to be all over the shop and it looks like rent seeking.

I think your original post draws us to a bit of a link. Any retaliation by China imposing covid restriction on arrivals can only be politically motivated, not on health grounds. And what are the motivations for those restrictions? I feel they will be broader than simply reciprocating covid testing requirements imposed by other countries.

 

[Mr H]

I think your original post draws us to a bit of a link. Any retaliation by China imposing covid restriction on arrivals can only be politically motivated, not on health grounds. And what are the motivations for those restrictions? I feel they will be broader than simply reciprocating covid testing requirements imposed by other countries.

So pretty dumb to be trying to score a political point off China - particularly if you are Australian and China is our most significant trading partner.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So pretty dumb to be trying to score a political point off China - particularly if you are Australian and China is our most significant trading partner.

I think countries are right to impose covid testing requirements on passengers arriving from China. Some anecdotal reports are planes arriving from China with up to 50% passengers testing positive. No country needs the potential drain on resources that such numbers will bring, especially if we don’t know the variant or severity.

These restrictions are therefore health related, with an indirect impact on the financial burden of providing health care, etc.

As for China reciprocating, if they do, that can only be politically motivated. There are no health grounds to do so… unless they are concerned about introducing a particular strain that the population hasn’t had before and has no immunity against.

 

[kelvedon]

So pretty dumb to be trying to score a political point off China - particularly if you are Australian and China is our most significant trading partner.

……then that makes any decision we make partly political and not based solely on health grounds.

 

[Mr H]

I think countries are right to impose covid testing requirements on passengers arriving from China. Some anecdotal reports are planes arriving from China with up to 50% passengers testing positive. No country needs the potential drain on resources that such numbers will bring, especially if we don’t know the variant or severity.

I have already demonstrated elsewhere that that is statistically improbable. We really don’t help the debate by repeating racially motivated conspiracy theories.

 

[Mr H]

……then that makes any decision we make partly political and not based solely on health grounds.

Yes, I don’t think there are any sensible health grounds for introducing testing. It was interesting in the news last night to see the same politicians who has been gung ho about freedom now trying to backtrack and make the case for tough restrictions against China. Presumably most of us are smart enough to see through it.