British Airways has suspended flights to Hong Kong amid reports more of its crew members have been forced to quarantine in a government centre.
BA confirmed it has temporarily stopped flights “while we review operational requirements for this route”.
The South China Morning Post reported that one BA worker had tested positive for Covid, leading to most crew members being sent to the quarantine camp.
It follows a similar incident the week before.
In that case, a BA crew member tested positive for the virus on 20 November. The employee and other crew, classed as “close contact”, were sent to Hong Kong’s Penny’s Bay quarantine centre.
A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Department of Health told the South China Morning Post that those crew members had since returned to the UK.
It comes amid concern over the new Covid variant, Omicron – cases of which have been discovered in a number of places including the UK and Hong Kong.
Commenting on the most recent measures against its crew, BA said: “We’re supporting crew who are currently isolating in Hong Kong.
“We work within local regulations for every country we fly to, and always put the safety and wellbeing of our teams and customers at the heart of everything we do.”
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific airline has been forced to cancel some passenger flights in December due to staff shortages. The airline operates a “closed-loop” system which means airline crew, working on three-week shifts, must stay in their hotel rooms between flights before going into a 14-day quarantine when they return home.
Hong Kong is pursuing a zero-Covid cases policy in order to open the border with mainland China.
BA said: “We apologise to our customers who have had their travel plans disrupted and will be in touch to give them options.”
The BA suspension of Hong Kong flights follows the temporary stoppage of air travel to six southern African counties following the discovery of the Omicron variant.
Both BA and Virgin Atlantic cancelled flights between midday on Friday and 04:00 on Sunday after the government temporarily banned travel from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.
Those countries were added to the UK’s travel red list at 04:00 on Sunday along with Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia.
People arriving from these countries will not be able to enter unless they are UK or Irish nationals, or UK residents.
Travellers will then have to pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked government-approved hotel for 10 days.
The government has also announced that arrivals to the UK will need to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival, and isolate until they get a negative result. The changes are expected to come into force on Tuesday.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that the measure will come into force from 04:00 on Tuesday, 30 November/BBC
