Exclusive | Coronavirus: Cathay Pacific strikes aircrew quarantine deal with government over flights to ‘high-risk’ countries
- Quarantine rules will not change for pilots, cabin crew of local carriers even after 16 countries are moved into higher-risk categories from Friday
- Travellers from Group A countries must quarantine on arrival for 21 days instead of 14
Quarantine rules will not change for staff of local carriers even after 16 countries – including the United States and Australia – are moved into higher-risk categories from Friday, according to official Covid-19 regulations for frontline pilots and cabin crew sent to airlines on Thursday night.
The risk-level revisions mean longer hotel stays for arrivals from those countries.
Hong Kong’s biggest airline struck the deal with the government to avoid plunging its flight operations into further chaos and inflicting additional financial harm.
It is the first major concession to a company for achieving a high Covid-19 vaccination rate.
On Monday, an additional 15 countries were added to the city’s high-risk category, which affected a significant number of destinations Cathay services, including France, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and US. Australia was moved from low to medium risk.