Air Mail from HKG

[anxiao]

I wonder if anyone in the airline world of Hong Kong knows or can work out what is going on with the airmail from Hong Kong?

In the past month I have been told by the Hong Kong Post Office that there is no air mail service between HKG and several European countries. It is obvious that there are aircraft flying daily between Hong Kong and these countries so why do they not carry mail?

Is it that CX had the mail contract and tells the PO that "Due Covid we cannot handle mail" and then waits while the companies of Hong Kong send it via DHL, at anything from 5 to 10 times the price. Mysteriously I have heard it said that CX and associate companies are not a million miles from the revenue stream of DHL.

[MENELAUS]

Allegedly it’s the CHP that have mandated no air mail to the U.K., as it’s supposedly unsafe to handle.
Which does rather beg several questions a) what are the odds of catching Covid from an envelope, b) why is it therefore safe to go by sea, or by FEDEX or DHL. ?
Snail mail is taking 10 weeks to reach the U.K.
Interestingly inbound mail seems ok. Although it does appear to take a fairly whacky route with postmarks from Stockholm and Helsinki etc. Yet another CHP goatfark. And yes, very much to FedEx’s, and Deutsche Post’s advantage.

[Rie]

Once again we are flying back to DXB but only mail by sea allowed. Any changes must take an eternity to get up the chain of command in the Post Office. HK Post has been extremely iffy anywhere recently. It'll sit at the airport for days before heading out even if paying for EMS.

[Dragon Baron]

My IRD tax refund cheque took exactly 4 months to arrive in the U.K. I immediately sent it back to HKG to pay it in and it was in my account 3 days later. Obviously handling post from a country where there are 30,000 COVID cases a day is ok.

[anxiao]

Nice one Dragon, that sums up the CHP as being completely out of touch with what the rest of the world is doing. I seem to remember about 6 months ago that WHO reported that fomite spread on mail items had not been conclusively found or proven.

So we are left to follow the money as to the reason for the ban on airmail out of Hong Kong, or accept that we should never confuse deviousness with incompetence.

[HKGDTT]

I am still awaiting my cheque for my ex gratia payment refund on the tax. When a month went by I started inquiring by email and phone until someone finally called backed and told me they were ¨holding¨my cheque until postal service resumed to my country... I asked to have my refund to bank account which I paid from and they said ¨no cannot¨... (standard HKG response) , only by cheque and they are not willing to send it via DHL, FEDEX or any other medium except for the HKG Post... I am still wondering why the :mad: they wont send it outbound?... FFS... I am glad I took VSS and escaped from that trap.
The only reason I paid my exgratia payment tax was because the IRD threatened to place a fine for late payment.... and had 2 days notice prior to deadline... 2 days go by after I paid and I get CX email saying the IRD commissioner stated no ex gratia payments are to be taxed.