Hong Kong Airport Reopens Stores Ahead of Banking Summit and Rugby Sevens

  • Once-thriving aviation hub plans to reopen stores next week
  • Passenger traffic dwindled to a trickle during Covid crisis
Stores are closed in the deserted departures hall at Hong Kong International Airport in 2021. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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For the past three years, Hong Kong’s airport has been a shadow of its former bustling self, with stores shuttered and concourses deserted as Covid border curbs kept most travelers away.

That’s set to change next week, when scores of stores -- including luxury retailers and duty free outlets -- are due to reopen for the first time since the airport, Asia’s busiest internationally in 2019, became a sleepy backwater with the onset of the pandemic.