The Government announced today (September 14) that the waiting and boarding arrangements for point-to-point transport services to convey inbound persons from Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to the designated quarantine hotels (DQHs) will be enhanced from tomorrow (September 15), with a view to further reducing inbound persons' duration of stay at HKIA. In addition, the specific label for the government DQH taxi fleet has been updated for easier public identification.
Enhanced point-to-point transport service arrangements
With a view to improving operational efficiency, the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) has, on the Government's request, carried out improvement works at the waiting area for point-to-point transport services to DQHs and rearranged the boarding locations of the free point-to-point designated transport service and the self-paid DQH taxi service, so as to facilitate the boarding of inbound persons as soon as possible.
The AA will place notices in Chinese and English at appropriate locations of the arrival hall to clearly direct inbound persons to the waiting areas of various point-to-point transport services. Staff members will also be on-site to assist. The new boarding arrangement will help divert passenger flow and further reduce inbound persons' duration of stay at HKIA. Furthermore, to keep inbound persons better informed of the real-time availability of self-paid taxis to DQHs, the AA has set up electronic display panels at the arrival hall to show the number of taxis waiting at the pick-up point for reference.
New labels for government anti-epidemic fleets
The government DQH taxi fleet at HKIA has been set up on a trial basis since July 25 to provide a self-paid point-to-point transport service for inbound persons in addition to the free designated transport service. The service has been running smoothly since its launch. As of yesterday (September 13), the taxi fleet had conveyed over 29 000 inbound persons from HKIA to DQHs at their own expense. The DQH taxi fleet only carries inbound persons from HKIA to DQHs and will not pick up other passengers. The Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB) has updated the design and enlarged the size of the specific labels of the fleet (see Annex 1) for easier identification by the public. The labels must be affixed at a prominent position on the DQH taxis.
In addition, to step up publicity of various anti-epidemic measures, the TLB has requested the anti-epidemic designated fleets, including the designated bus fleet for transporting persons who have tested positive for COVID-19 to the community isolation facilities, the designated taxi fleet for transporting patients to and from the Hospital Authority's designated clinics and the taxi fleet for transporting inbound persons to DQHs, to affix the Government Anti-COVID Measure labels (see Annex 2) in addition to the fleet-specific labels for public identification.
"The relevant policy bureaux and departments will continue to closely monitor the operation of various anti-epidemic point-to-point transport services and make timely adjustments with regard to the actual situation and demand," a Government spokesman said.
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