HK Express becomes first Hong Kong airline to ban shark fin cargo
Carrier backs global campaign to outlaw what CEO Andrew Cowen brands ‘this cruel practice’
Budget carrier HK Express will become the city’s first airline to ban shark fin cargo, the Sunday Morning Post has learned.
The airline said it was making a declaration of support for the global campaign to ban the trade.
Locally-based concern groups WildAid and the Hong Kong Shark Foundation praised HK Express for joining an expanding list of airlines around the world going shark fin free, and drawing attention to other carriers in the city who had yet to embrace the trend.
In February this year, Orient Overseas Container Line, the shipping giant owned by the family of former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, announced it would stop carrying shark, whale and dolphin meat and products with immediate effect.
“This is really just a public show of support at this time to the people and organisations seeking to ban this cruel practice,” HK Express CEO Andrew Cowen told the Post, acknowledging the growing public backlash against selling and eating shark fin. He said it had already been “many years” since the airline last transported shark fins.