A pair of dogs in the Prince Edward area of Hong Kong
Bags packed and ready to go, Hong Kong house cats Teddy and Newman were all set to board a private jet – a costly last resort for their owners as the city piled on pandemic restrictions.
China is one of the few places in the world to follow a strict “zero-Covid” policy that turns Hong Kong into a one-time aviation hub, a city where travel planning and canceled flights are the norm.
The emergence of the highly permeable Omicron variant in recent weeks has seen authorities ban incoming flights and transit to passengers from several countries – with an already limited number of carriers still planning to enter the city.
For Lee, a Hong Konger immigrating to the UK, it also meant that it was no longer possible to take out his beloved elderly cats Teddy and Newman by commercial airline.
“This is an extraordinary situation,” Lee told AFP ahead of last week’s flight, providing only the name of his family.
“If it were just my wife and I traveling, of course we wouldn’t take a private jet. It’s only because of our cats.”
Usually favored by the ultra-wealthy, private planes are now a mode of transportation desperate pet owners are turning to when departing from an increasingly isolated city.
Animal travel company Pet Holidays said between 3,000 and 4,000 cats and dogs were stranded by the December flight suspension alone.
“No money can buy them a seat,” said Fannie Liang, the company’s pet emigration consultant.
For a chartered private jet, an all-inclusive package for a house cat — and their human — pet holiday runs up to about $23,100, although Liang said the cost varies depending on the size of the animal.
– ‘People have become desperate’ –
Once an international gateway, Hong Kong’s staunch adherence to mainland China’s “zero-Covid” strategy, along with long mandatory quarantines in expensive hotels, discouraged travel, including its well-heeled finance community. has done.
Earlier this month, the government ordered the mass rearing of pet store hamsters and other small mammals after they tested positive for Covid-19, adding to fresh uncertainty for pet owners.
According to a US Chamber of Commerce survey, more than 40 percent of foreign residents said they were likely to leave the city due to travel and COVID restrictions.
More than 25 per cent of the companies said that they are considering relocating offices.
The impact of December’s flight suspension was immediate for Olga Radlinska, founder of private airline Top Stars Air, who said she now receives dozens of phone calls from frantic pets.
“In January of this year, I can see people getting desperate, and they are leaving,” she said. “Basically every flight is only one-way.”
Over the past year, her clients have shifted from the ultra-rich traveling for pleasure to pet owners trying to transfer their “fur babies.”
Top Stars Air — which has a starting price of $19,700 for a pet and its owner — rented an average of two private jets a month last year.
For February, Radlinska said it already has five flights to London, Singapore and Los Angeles.
To meet the cost of privately chartered jets, pet owners also flock to Facebook groups to discuss common flight routes, hoping others will help reduce the hefty fee.
“I’m wondering if anyone knows of a jet going from HK to the UK next month? I’m trying to bring home two French Bulldogs,” said one on January 13, posting a fingered-cross emoji.
– ‘do whatever it takes’ –
Hong Kong Dog Rescue Communications Manager Eva Sit said the surge in departing residents has also coincided with the rise of abandoned dogs.
“We certainly think the emigration wave is part of the reason,” she told AFP, citing a 48 percent increase in dogs rescued in 2021 compared to a year ago.
“Dogs are our family and should not be left behind like pieces of furniture,” Sit said.
“Challenges can be expected and costs will be involved, but it is always a matter of willingness to move forward with their dogs.”
Sarah O’Hara was initially “shocked” when she heard about people flying their pets on a chartered jet.
Now she and her husband are considering it in anticipation of their own move to the UK in March, as cargo space remains up in the air for their two rescue dogs – Milo and Manda.
“I will never leave my dogs behind. You do whatever it takes,” she said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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