Omicron: Hong Kong leader vows legal action if Cathay Pacific exploited coronavirus quarantine rules for its pilots

Carrie Lam says investigation looking into whether crew members serving on passenger flights had returned on cargo ones

Lam also rejects allegations ex-senior official makes in letter to Post that she herself was guilty of bad judgment by attending wedding, noting event was held on December 5

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Cathay Pacific has apologised for aircrew members who flouted home isolation rules. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 6:16pm, 11 Jan 2022Updated: 8:36am, 12 Jan 2022

Hong Kong’s leader has vowed to take legal action against Cathay Pacific if the airline is found to have exploited loopholes to bypass quarantine rules for its pilots and other staff, amid mounting calls from the pro-establishment camp to penalise the carrier.

The city’s flagship airline has been under fire in recent weeks for sparking the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic after at least four of its aircrew members broke home isolation rules and visited restaurants and bars while infected with Omicron.

The pressure increased last week when dozens of officials and lawmakers from the pro-establishment camp were ordered into quarantine after it emerged they went to a birthday party along with a guest infected with a viral strain believed to be linked to a Cathay employee.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam meets the media at government headquarters on Tuesday. Photo: Sam Tsang

Social-distancing rules might have been broken at the gathering, such as by guests failing to wear a mask or use the government’s “Leave Home Safe” risk-exposure app. A second guest has also since been confirmed as infected.

While many of the officials have since apologised for attending the event, some have also blamed the airline for triggering the latest outbreak in the first place.

Over the past two days, pro-Beijing newspapers have also been doubling down in defending the officials and lawmakers, while turning the focus on Cathay.

Speaking before meeting her top advisers on Tuesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the investigation concerned whether Cathay crew members serving on passenger flights had returned to the city on cargo ones so they could circumvent hotel quarantine in favour of the laxer home confinement arrangement.

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