"It is understood that around 250 outbound flights of Hong Kong airlines will be affected between December 30, 2022 and the end of January 2023, affecting around 60,000 passengers," the government said in a statement late on Wednesday. Among the affected passengers, about 4,000 are tour group travellers from over 150 tour group. Flights of Hong Kong airlines can still carry passengers back to Hong Kong from various airports in Japan, the government said, to "ensure the smooth return of Hong Kong people from Japan and to minimise the impact to Hong Kong travellers caused by the incident." "We think that Hong Kong people should be allowed to use not just these four airports," Lee said. Hong Kong Airlines and Peach Aviation announced they would cancel some flight routes because of the rules.

Source: The Standard December 29, 2022 15:41 UTC