Hong Kong bans passenger flights from Indonesia

Hong Kong is suspending all passenger flights from Indonesia from tomorrow as a Covid-19 precaution.

The Hong Kong government announced yesterday that it will ban all passenger flights from Indonesia after the number of imported Covid-19 cases crossed a threshold the Chinese territory had set.

Hong Kong has a flight suspension rule where it prohibits flights originating from countries where five or more passengers have tested positive, on arrival in the territory, for Covid-19 variants. The suspension is also in place when 10 or more passengers are found to be infected with any strain of the coronavirus while under quarantine.

Hong Kong also said it will list Indonesia as an "extremely high-risk" place, and will restrict people who have stayed there for more than two hours from boarding passenger flights to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has already banned flights from India, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Indonesia's foreign ministry described Hong Kong's flight ban as "temporary".

Indonesia used to be a net jet fuel importer but has been regularly exporting more in recent months, GTT customs data showed. Indonesia exported just 38 b/d in April but shipped 6,444 b/d in March. It last imported 7,926 b/d in November and about 10,395 b/d in October after a five-month gap last year where it did not buy any jet fuel. Jakarta has been trying to reduce oil imports and boost domestic output through domestic producers like state-owned refiner Pertamina.

By Cara Wong