Quarantine might have been scrapped, but BA and Qantas are choosing to wait a few more months.
A British Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (Photo: British Airways)
British Airways
According to the latest schedules on its website, BA’s London Heathrow–Hong Kong flights will restart on December 5, with Boeing 787s plying the route every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. On those days, flight BA 031 will take off from Heathrow at 5:50 p.m. and land in Hong Kong at 2:40 p.m. the next afternoon. From December 6, red-eye flight BA 032 is scheduled to leave Hong Kong at 11:05 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and return to the British capital at 5:45 a.m. the following morning. Given the ongoing closure of Russian airspace, travel times are slightly longer than before: passengers should expect their flights to last 12 hours and 50 minutes when headed east and 14 hours and 40 minutes for the westbound service. Frequencies on the route will go daily from December 20.
Air France
More than a year after pulling out of Hong Kong in response to tightening quarantine and testing requirements for aircrews, Air France is due to return on January 9, 2023 with a thrice-weekly service. On Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, flight AF 188 will depart Paris Charles de Gaulle at 11:30 p.m. and arrive in Hong Kong the following evening at 7:10 p.m.; its journey time is estimated at 12 hours and 40 minutes. The return flight will be operated on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, when AF 185 leaves Hong Kong at 10:15 p.m. to touch down in Paris at 5:45 a.m. the next day after 14 hours and 30 minutes in the air.
A Qantas Airbus A330 at Sydney Airport. (Photo: Qantas)
Qantas
Previously earmarked for November 7, the resumption of services on Qantas’ Sydney–Hong Kong route have been pushed back to January 30, 2023. Taking nine hours and 20 minutes each way, the flights will initially operate aboard Airbus A330-300s on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. QF 127 will take off from Sydney at 10:15 a.m. to reach Hong Kong at 4:35 p.m, and QF 128 will then depart Hong Kong at 6:20 p.m., before returning to Kingsford Smith Airport at 6:40 a.m. the following morning. Qantas says flights between Melbourne and Hong Kong will only restart on March 26, with return services run on a daily basis.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Passengers traveling between Amsterdam and Hong Kong on KLM currently require a stopover in Bangkok, but daily nonstop flights aboard Boeing 777-200s are expected to resume from March 26; these have already been listed on the airline’s website. Outbound service KL 887 will leave Schiphol at 5:15 p.m., with the arrival in Hong Kong set for 10:30 a.m. the next day; flight KL 888 is scheduled to take off from Hong Kong at 12:20 p.m. and land in Amsterdam at 6:40 p.m. the same evening. The eastbound journey will take 11 hours and 15 minutes, compared to 12 hours and 20 minutes for the westbound leg.
The business-class cabin aboard an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER. (Photo: Emirates)
Emirates
Just like KLM, this Dubai-based carrier will no longer operate its Hong Kong flights via Bangkok come March 26, cutting the eastbound journey time from just over 10.5 hours to seven hours and 15 minutes. Boeing 777-300ERs will be deployed for the daily EK 380 service, which departs Dubai at 10:45 a.m. and touches down in Hong Kong at 10 p.m. the same evening. The return flight, EK 381, will take eight hours and 25 minutes to traverse the route, and leave Hong Kong at 12:35 a.m. to reach Dubai at 5 a.m. local time.
