Hong Kong authorities have unveiled a bold plan to give away nearly $400 million in free airline tickets to entice travellers to return to the city.

Hong Kong Tourism Board executive director Dane Cheng Ting-yat said the plan to give away 500,000 free tickets was expected to launch early in 2023.

“Once the government announces it will remove all COVID-19 restrictions for inbound travellers, we’ll roll out the advertising campaigns for the free air tickets,” he said.

The tickets, worth HK$2 billion ($392 million), were bought to support Hong Kong’s airlines during the pandemic. They will be handed out next year to inbound and outbound travellers.

“Back in 2020, Airport Authority Hong Kong purchased around 500,000 air tickets in advance from the territory’s home-based airlines as part of a relief package to support the aviation industry,” a tourism board spokesman told CNN.

“The purchase serves the purpose of injecting liquidity into the airlines upfront, while the tickets will be given away to global visitors and Hong Kong residents in the market recovery campaign.”

The promotion comes as Chinese tourist mecca begins rolling back some of the world’s tight COVID rules after more than two years. A fortnight ago, it finally dumped mandatory hotel quarantine for arriving travellers, replacing it with self-monitoring from home.

Hong Kong Tourism Board chairman Dr Pang Yiu-kai said the change marked the city’s reopening as “a tourism gateway with significant international connections”.

“The new arrangements will allow greater convenience and flexibility for travellers,” he said.

A reported 59 million people visited the city in 2019 – compared to just 184,000 visitors in the first eight months of 2022. The decision to roll back COVID rules sparked a rush for tickets to and from Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, set up a virtual “waiting room” to access its website to help meet demand at one point. Online booking service Expedia said searches for flights from Hong Kong to Tokyo and to Osaka particularly spiked.

But major airlines continue to struggle to return flight schedules to pre-pandemic levels.

Cathay Pacific reported expects to run just a third of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the end of this year. Meanwhile, earlier this week, British airline Virgin Atlantic said it would quit operating in Hong Kong because of issues linked to the Ukraine war.

“Significant operational complexities due to the ongoing Russian airspace closure have contributed to the commercial decision not to resume flights in March 2023 as planned,” the airline said.

The airline, founded by billionaire Richard Branson, halted flights to Hong Kong last December.

Other airlines have also suspended flights or been forced to take different routes to avoid flying over Ukraine and Russia since the February invasion.

“We’re very sorry for the disappointment caused to our loyal customers on this route and anyone booked to travel from March 2023 will be offered a refund, voucher or the option to rebook on an alternative Virgin Atlantic route,” Virgin said.

The airline said the war had added nearly two hours to its flights from Hong Kong to London’s Heathrow.