British Airways has decided to suspend their flights to Hong Kong until further notice as for the second week several crew members were sent to the infamous quarantine internment camp after testing positive or deemed a “close contact”.
This week one BA worker had tested positive for Covid, leading to most crew members being sent to the quarantine camp following a similar incident ten days ago.
Operating flights to Hong Kong has become an operational liability for airlines, several of which already had to deal with crews being detained over suspicion of Covid infection or simply classified as close contact to an infected colleague or passenger.
As the BBC and SCMP reported British Airways has now pulled the plug on their Hong Kong flights.
British Airways has suspended flights to Hong Kong amid reports more of its crew members have been forced to quarantine in a government centre.
BA confirmed it has temporarily stopped flights “while we review operational requirements for this route”.
The South China Morning Post reported that one BA worker had tested positive for Covid, leading to most crew members being sent to the quarantine camp.
It follows a similar incident the week before.
In that case, a BA crew member tested positive for the virus on 20 November. The employee and other crew, classed as “close contact”, were sent to Hong Kong’s Penny’s Bay quarantine centre.
A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Department of Health told the South China Morning Post that those crew members had since returned to the UK.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific airline has been forced to cancel some passenger flights in December due to staff shortages. The airline operates a “closed loop” system which means airline crew, working on three week shifts, must stay in their hotel rooms between flights before going into a 14-day quarantine when they return home.
Hong Kong is pursuing a zero-Covid cases policy in order to open the border with mainland China.
BA said: “We apologise to our customers who have had their travel plans disrupted and will be in touch to give them options.” …
As I wrote before, this whole “Zero Covid” nonsense stems from China which has repeatedly locked down entire cities with millions of people over Covid scares. I can’t see this insanity with crews in Hong Kong being detained at the quarantine camp subside anytime soon and I’m quite frankly surprised that airlines still find crews that fly there voluntarily.
Home carrier Cathay Pacific also found itself in the middle of a Covid scare last month after three cargo pilots returning from Germany were found infected with the Coronavirus, causing almost 300 citizens and Cathay employees to be forced into 21+ quarantine by Hong Kong authorities.
This is the quarantine camp in question:
While this is certainly an inconvenience for many travelers it’s understandable that BA has stopped flying to Hong Kong. It’s impossible to assure the well-being of your staff when dealing with such extreme methods as it’s the case in HK at the moment.
Passengers will likely be rebooked to Cathay Pacific but I suggest closely monitoring the bookings and getting in touch with BA. In any case, should your flight be canceled you’re entitled to a complete cash refund if so desired.
Conclusion
British Airways has pulled the plug on their Hong Kong route over the rigid internment policy of the local health authorities that have repeatedly detained flight crew and locked them up at the quarantine camp for being close contacts of a covid positive person or returning a positive test result.
The airline will be in touch with passengers who are affected by the cancellations but I recommend being proactive here and getting this solved asap.
