Visitors from South-East Asia hoping to register for a draw for free airline tickets to Hong Kong were forced to wait online for more than two hours on Match 1, as city-based carriers Hong Kong Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways began rolling out the tourism-boosting giveaway.

The much-awaited lucky draw is part of the city’s “Hello Hong Kong” campaign, which will give away at least 500,000 airline tickets, with the first round targeting South-East Asian markets.

On March 1 morning, the website of Hong Kong Airlines was paralysed by a surge in visitor traffic as the carrier rolled out 6,000 round-trip “zero-dollar” tickets to Hong Kong from Bangkok, Hanoi and Manila.

A Post reporter attempting to access the carrier’s homepage was stuck on a screen showing a queue of hundreds and a wait time of more than two hours.

Another Post reporter who managed to enter a reward ticket section landed on a page that stated “502 Bad Gateway” after a brief wait.

A Facebook user named Candy Wan complained on the airline’s official social media page that it took two hours to complete online check-in, questioning if the carrier’s server had collapsed.

Hong Kong Airlines had earlier advised interested fliers on its Facebook page to plan their travel periods and sign up for its loyalty programme in advance, and prepare to pay for surcharges and taxes applicable to their “zero-dollar” tickets.

Cathay Pacific, on the other hand, was kicking off its “World of Winners” campaign in Thailand at noon on Wednesday, although its website had apparently started to see heavy visitor traffic hours before the launch.

The homepage of Cathay’s official website also required a wait of about three minutes when a Hong Kong-based Post reporter visited it at around 10am.

Cathay’s campaign will then target visitors from Singapore and the Philippines on Thursday and Friday respectively. There will be 17,400 round-trip economy-class tickets to Hong Kong from Thailand, 12,500 from Singapore and 20,400 from the Philippines.

The tickets giveaway, expected to last six to nine months, forms a key part of the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign to reboot tourism which was dealt a heavy blow by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past three years.

Hong Kong residents will also be given 80,000 free tickets during the summer while another 80,000 will be given to Greater Bay Area residents.

 - SCMP