Hong Kong is furthering tightening quarantine rules for Cathay Pacific flight crews, including making cargo pilots wear electronic tracking devices.

Cathay Pacific
© Boeing
Electronic tagging of Cathay Pacific cargo pilots

Hong Kong authorities continue to squeeze Cathay Pacific with new quarantine rules targeting cargo pilots and crews operating the airline's few remaining passenger flights. In a staff memo, one senior Cathay Pacific executive calls the new rules "some of the most stringent requirements yet."

The new quarantine rules, which Bloomberg first reported, came into effect on Wednesday. The rules apply to all airlines flying into Hong Kong. However, as very few airlines other than Cathay Pacific do, the toughened regime primarily impacts the already besieged airline.

Under the new rules, cargo pilots who've returned home to Hong Kong will need to wear electronic bracelets for three days so authorities can track their movements. Unlike passenger plane crews, cargo crews have been allowed to quarantine at home, leading to all sorts of problems, including a scandal where Cathay Pacific was designating empty passenger planes as cargo planes so the crews could bypass the hotel quarantine process.

Crew returning on passenger flights, empty or otherwise, will now need to undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine where previously seven days sufficed for crews coming off most passenger flights. Adding complexity for the airline is another new rule that bans using a mix of local and overseas-based crew on the same flights. Now passenger aircraft crew can only fly together if they go into quarantine afterward together - for two weeks.

More pressure on Cathay Pacific

Two weeks ago, Cathay Pacific said it flew just 2% of its 2019 passenger numbers across 2021. At the time, Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said tightened aircrew quarantine requirements and travel restrictions would have a significant impact on passenger and cargo flight capacity.

In January, cargo flights were operating at around 20% of pre-travel downturn capacity, and passenger flight capacity was running at about 2%. This week's round of new rules puts further pressure on the airline.

Cathay Pacific is firmly out of favor with Hong Kong and Beijing authorities. Flight crew are widely blamed for spreading omicron throughout the city. A series of high-profile quarantine breaches by Cathay Pacific flight crew has intensified the spotlight on the airline. Hong Kong recorded six hundred new cases on Tuesday, and the Government has moved to limit social gatherings, including in homes.

Electronic tags better than hotel quarantine

There are also reports that Hong Kong doctors and medical facilities are refusing to treat Cathay Pacific flight crews and their families in case they are infected and thereby force the treating doctor into 14 days quarantine as well. Bloomberg reports Cathay Pacific flight crews spent a total of 73,000 nights in quarantine last year.

According to the airline, requiring the cargo pilots to wear electronic wristbands strikes a balance between oversight and quarantine. Even if tagged and tracked, home quarantine was a better option than hotel quarantine - which passenger flight crews must endure.

However, Cathay's General Manager of Operations, Mark Hoey, called the new rules "some of the most stringent requirements yet."

Meanwhile, two now-former Cathay Pacific flight attendants who ignored quarantine rules late last year and caused so much trouble for the airline were charged and released on bail this week. Both men allegedly went out to dinner when they were meant to be isolating, and both later tested positive. Both are due to face court again in April.