Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific pressing government to relax quarantine restrictions, as most flight crews now vaccinated

Airline proposing incremental relaxation of rules it says have resulted in an increased cash burn of HK$400 million a month

As of Monday, 97 per cent of pilots, 84 per cent of cabin crew and 79 per cent of non-flight staff based in Hong Kong were to have been jabbed

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With most of its flight crews now vaccinated, Cathay Pacific is asking the Hong Kong government to relax their mandatory quarantine restrictions. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 2:41pm, 22 Jul 2021Updated: 11:11pm, 22 Jul 2021

Cathay Pacific is in talks with the Hong Kong government to remove the majority of quarantine restrictions on its flight crews now that most have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The embattled airline has expressed optimism that mandatory isolation rules will be lifted for “the majority” of its flights, allowing it to scale back costly health measures and strengthen its efforts to recover from the financial battering sustained amid the pandemic.

In building its case for relaxation, the airline has got tough with staff in recent months, adopting a hardline “no jab, no job” policy, warning that flight crews must be fully vaccinated by August 31 or face having their employment reviewed.

As of Monday, 97 per cent of Cathay Pacific pilots, 84 per cent of cabin crew and 79 per cent of non-flight staff based in Hong Kong were to have been vaccinated, giving it one of the highest rates of inoculation for any airline in the world.

According to its latest figures, the carrier employs about 3,100 pilots and roughly 8,750 cabin crew, with most based locally.

Quarantine for aircrew has increased the company’s cash burn by HK$400 million a month, to HK$1.9 billion (US$244.4 million), and it has been forced to slash already skeletal passenger schedules by almost two-thirds and cargo operations by a quarter because of the rules.

Cathay Pacific has been financially battered by the near-total shutdown of leisure travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Winson Wong