Speaking to global aviation leaders gathered in Hong Kong on 9 December, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan set out an ambitious blueprint to deepen the city’s connectivity in both conventional and emerging airspaces. Chan announced that over the past two months Hong Kong has concluded bilateral Air Services Agreements with Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Cuba, Poland and Togo, expanding the SAR’s network to more than 140 airlines serving 200-plus destinations. The deals, she said, are designed to “support our business and tourism sectors under the Belt-and-Road Initiative” and will permit carriers to add frequencies and cargo capacity as soon as summer 2026.
Chan also highlighted the completion of Hong Kong International Airport’s three-runway system and a passenger rebound to 53 million in 2024, with 50 million handled in the first 10 months of 2025 alone. Cargo throughput reached 4.1 million tonnes. For global-mobility managers the figures confirm that Hong Kong has regained its pre-pandemic hub status, restoring route diversity and seat availability critical to cost-effective assignment planning.
Companies and individual travellers looking to take advantage of these expanded air links can streamline their visa and travel-documentation needs through VisaHQ, which offers fast, reliable processing support for Hong Kong and dozens of other jurisdictions (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/). By outsourcing the paperwork to specialists, mobility teams can focus on strategic planning rather than embassy queues—an especially useful edge in a market that’s ramping up this quickly.
![Hong Kong unveils new air-services deals and low-altitude drone roadmap at ‘Airspace Asia Pacific 2025’]()
Beyond traditional aviation, the speech focused on Hong Kong’s emerging “low-altitude economy”. The government’s three-phase roadmap includes a Regulatory Sandbox launched in March that has already enabled cross-harbour medical-supply drone flights and AI-enabled rail-inspection drones. A more complex “Sandbox X” opened two weeks ago to test heavier logistics drones and even passenger-carrying eVTOL craft, with a comprehensive legislative package promised by end-2026.
Chan positioned Hong Kong as a future regional standards-setter, citing the city’s finance and insurance expertise and its proximity to Guangdong’s manufacturing base. The government is actively working with ICAO and CANSO to ensure interoperability of unmanned-traffic-management systems across borders—vital for any future cross-boundary drone corridors in the Greater Bay Area.
For companies relocating staff to Hong Kong, the twin messages are clear: conventional air access will continue to expand, and the regulatory environment for advanced air mobility is taking shape quickly. Early engagement—such as securing site permits for drone logistics trials—could give first movers a strategic advantage.
Chan also highlighted the completion of Hong Kong International Airport’s three-runway system and a passenger rebound to 53 million in 2024, with 50 million handled in the first 10 months of 2025 alone. Cargo throughput reached 4.1 million tonnes. For global-mobility managers the figures confirm that Hong Kong has regained its pre-pandemic hub status, restoring route diversity and seat availability critical to cost-effective assignment planning.
Companies and individual travellers looking to take advantage of these expanded air links can streamline their visa and travel-documentation needs through VisaHQ, which offers fast, reliable processing support for Hong Kong and dozens of other jurisdictions (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/). By outsourcing the paperwork to specialists, mobility teams can focus on strategic planning rather than embassy queues—an especially useful edge in a market that’s ramping up this quickly.
Beyond traditional aviation, the speech focused on Hong Kong’s emerging “low-altitude economy”. The government’s three-phase roadmap includes a Regulatory Sandbox launched in March that has already enabled cross-harbour medical-supply drone flights and AI-enabled rail-inspection drones. A more complex “Sandbox X” opened two weeks ago to test heavier logistics drones and even passenger-carrying eVTOL craft, with a comprehensive legislative package promised by end-2026.
Chan positioned Hong Kong as a future regional standards-setter, citing the city’s finance and insurance expertise and its proximity to Guangdong’s manufacturing base. The government is actively working with ICAO and CANSO to ensure interoperability of unmanned-traffic-management systems across borders—vital for any future cross-boundary drone corridors in the Greater Bay Area.
For companies relocating staff to Hong Kong, the twin messages are clear: conventional air access will continue to expand, and the regulatory environment for advanced air mobility is taking shape quickly. Early engagement—such as securing site permits for drone logistics trials—could give first movers a strategic advantage.
