Omicron variant: Cathay Pacific requires London-Hong Kong passengers to test Covid-19 negative within 24 hours of departure
- Hong Kong’s flagship carrier sets tougher screening rules for passengers than legally required to reduce threat of route suspension
- From Friday, Cathay’s Heathrow passengers can only board Hong Kong flights if they test Covid-19 negative within 24 hours of departure – halving the time demanded by officials
Cathay’s one-day window for preflight testing will take effect on Friday, coinciding with the city government shortening that period for all inbound flights from 72 to 48 hours. In the interim, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier is paying for its London passengers to take an extra coronavirus test for free on their day of travel.
Britain added to Hong Kong’s highest-risk category over Omicron fears
“These are additional measures we are taking to ensure our Hong Kong bound passengers test negative on arrival, thereby facilitating the arrival experience for all and to support the local community’s effort to combat the virus,” the airline told affected passengers on Tuesday.
For the next three days, passengers must take a Covid-19 antigen test provided by the airline without charge during the check-in process. When the new arrangements come into force on Friday, travellers will have to cover the cost of the Covid-19 test themselves as typically required for pre-departure tests.
Two Cathay flights have been banned from New York and Ho Chi Minh City in the past fortnight, after three cases were detected on both Hong Kong routes on December 19 and December 8 respectively.
On Monday, Hong Kong authorities announced tougher rules covering the suspension of flights as well as pre-boarding tests, both taking effect on Friday.
Any airline bringing at least four coronavirus-positive passengers to Hong Kong within a seven-day period will be barred from flying that route for two weeks. Existing rules remaining in force trigger bans when three passengers on the same flight test positive for the coronavirus, or where there is at least one infected traveller on the same service as another with the incorrect paperwork.
The changes were revealed as the government ramped up efforts to limit the increase of imported Covid-19 cases, with the ultimate goal of preserving the reopening of the mainland China border which was expected later this month.
The highly transmissible Omicron variant is spreading fast across the world, disrupting Europe and North America which have largely pivoted to a pandemic strategy of “living with Covid”.
Airlines have become increasingly disillusioned with what they see as Hong Kong’s punitive approach. Another controversial measure requires aircrew to quarantine in a government facility if they test positive on arrival.
Authorities are concerned about the threat of local aircrew, particularly cargo staff who enjoy quarantine exemptions, carrying the virus into the community.
Cathay’s London-Hong Kong route on Tuesday notched up one strike under the flight suspension scheme when a CX252 passenger tested positive for the coronavirus on arrival on December 19.
The airline will be banned if three more of its passengers on that route test positive at the airport within seven days of Tuesday’s case.
Qatar Airways received another two-week ban on Tuesday, having recorded five positive cases within a seven-day period – based on the previous rules – triggering a suspension from December 22 until January 4 next year. The airline has been banned six times since November 2020.
A total of 58 flights have been barred from entering Hong Kong for two weeks since the pandemic started.
