Hong Kong says Japan relaxes COVID flight restrictions

Hong Kong's government said on Wednesday that Japan had relaxed six-day-old COVID restrictions that had limited flights from the financial hub to only a handful of destinations in Japan.

Planes from Hong Kong would be able to land at all airports in Japan, not just four as under the curbs, the government said. There was no immediate confirmation from Japan.

Hong Kong's government said last week that Japan's restrictions would affect about 60,000 passengers. Many Hong Kong residents had planned trips to Japan ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday which begins on Jan. 21.

Hong Kong's government said it welcomed the relaxations, but urged Japan to remove all remaining restrictions targeting flights from the Chinese special administrative region.

"After the implementation of the relaxation measures, the Japanese authorities will still restrict the extent of the increase in the frequency of passenger flights departing from Hong Kong," the government said.

Japan is one of an increasing number of countries imposing restrictions on travellers from China after Beijing's decision to lift stringent zero-COVID policies in December.