HONG KONG: Bags packed and ready to go, Hong Kong house cats Teddy and Newman were all set for leaving on a private jet plane - an expensive last resort for their owners as the city piles on pandemic restrictions.
China remains one of the few places left in the world pursuing a strict "zero-COVID" policy, transforming Hong Kong, a one-time aviation hub, into a city where thwarted travel plans and cancelled flights are the norm.
The emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in recent weeks has also seen authorities ban incoming flights and transit passengers from numerous countries - upending plans for the already limited number of carriers still entering the city.
For Lee, a Hong Konger emigrating to Britain, it also meant that ferrying his beloved elderly cats Teddy and Newman out by commercial airline was no longer possible.
"It is an exceptional situation," Lee told AFP ahead of last week's flight, providing only his family name.
"If it was just my wife and I travelling, of course we wouldn't take a private jet. It's only because of our cats."
Typically favoured by the ultra-rich, private planes are now a mode of transport desperate pet owners are turning to when departing the increasingly isolated city.
With commercial airlines already restricting the number of animals that can be transported on a plane, the spate of flight cancellations has created a massive backlog of outbound pets stuck in the city.
Animal travel company Pet Holidays said December's flight suspensions alone left 3,000 to 4,000 cats and dogs stranded.
"No amount of money can buy them a seat" on a commercial flight, said Fanny Liang, the company's pet emigration consultant.
For a chartered private jet, an all-inclusive package for a house cat -- and their human - runs to about US$23,100 at Pet Holidays, though Liang said the costs vary based on the animal's size.
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2022-02-01 12:54:06Z
CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9wZXQtb3duZXJzLWdvLXByaXZhdGUtamV0LWZ1ci1iYWJpZXMtb3V0LWhvbmcta29uZy0yNDcyNjAx0gEA
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