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Cathay Pacific Airways steps up medical surveillance of aircrew
November 15th 2021
Cathay Pacific Airways has increased medical surveillance of its aircrew and is requiring eligible staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot after two freighter pilots tested positive for a variant of the virus. Read More » The freighter pilots had operated a cargo flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong. They tested positive to COVID-19 after arriving in Hong Kong. The airline has launched an internal investigation into how they became infected. An internal memo quoted by the South China Morning Post said all crew who had stopped over in the German city this month would have to go into 21 days of hotel quarantine, potentially hampering the airline’s ability to operate flights. The incident follows the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s (HKSAR) decision to tighten measures to contain COVID-19 to convince Beijing to ease travel restrictions between the HKSAR and the Mainland. In a statement issued on Friday, Cathay reminded aircrew of the critical importance of complying with anti-pandemic measures in Hong Kong and overseas. “As an immediate action, we will step up our compliance checks at overseas stations to ensure Cathay Pacific’s health and safety protocols are being strictly followed by aircrew during their layovers,’’ the statement said. “In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific will continue to work closely with the Transport and Housing Bureau as well as the health authorities to reinforce public health protection. Specifically, we will issue further guidelines to strengthen the requirements of aircrew movements in the local community during their medical surveillance periods. We also will arrange for our aircrew to undergo daily COVID-19 testing.” Cathay said its flights were operated with fully vaccinated aircrew who self-isolated in designated hotels during layovers outside Hong Kong. It said they were tested frequently and in 2021 the airline group had undertaken 170,000 COVID-19 tests in Hong Kong, including multiple tests after every flight. “To further safeguard the public health of Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific will be requiring all eligible aircrew to receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,’’ the airline said. “All other Cathay Pacific employees also will be strongly encouraged to get the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as early as possible.”
