F E AT U RE Rob Chipman, of Asian Tigers Hong Kong, says movers are having to negotiate vastly dierent conditions across the region The busier summer moving cycle numbers are nothing like previous years JAMES GOODING, SANTA FES NORTH ASIA MANAGING DIRECTOR WARWICK WOODLEY, GLOBAL MOBILITY DIRECTOR FOR ASIAN EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL MOVERS A ban on incoming flights remained in force until the end of June. Yet Vietnam eased up much quicker Asian Tigers staff were back working in the office on 27 April. However, as FIDI Focus went to press, only returning Vietnamese were allowed to fly into the country and, says Chipman, work permit applications were proceeding very slowly. Shanghai-based James Gooding, Santa Fe Relocations North Asia Managing Director, saw the crisis unfold around him. Many expats were overseas when COVID-19 blew up and the governments response was to prolong the Chinese New Year holiday. But then it said you cant return. There was a glimmer of hope when the local Shanghai government allowed Santa Fe to restart operations. It was the first mover to receive permission, and a vote of confidence in the firms ability to ensure the health and safety of staff. But then came another blow as the pandemic took global hold China closed its borders at the end of March, fearful that overseas arrivals might trigger a second wave of COVID-19. Thousands of customers were locked out and families split, says Gooding. Inbound business has shrunk dramatically because people cant get into the country. Most of our activity has been moving people out. Santa Fes business is mainly with global multinational companies. As for normality returning, that depends on China deciding when it will reopen fully, says Gooding. There are flight restrictions, which are slowly easing from June, with the number of permitted flights to nearly triple to 407 per week, 32 FF298 AugSept20 pp30-37 Asia Recovery.indd 32 An AGS packer gets back to work with new precautions in place which is still just a fraction of the roughly 9,000 flights a week handled by the countrys airports before the pandemic. Also, theyre expensive. You had people fleeing China who want to return, but the government is worried about the spread. And the impact on Santa Fes business? We asked staff to take unpaid voluntary leave and thats had some success. But weve had to make a reduction in employee numbers, too. Maintaining cash levels has been critical. Some of our customers have faced a WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 20/07/2020 16:05 AGS_