Hong Kong set to hit aircrew on long-haul flights with strict new quarantine measures from next week in bid to contain surge of infections

Hong Kong has no alternative but to impose a strict new quarantine plan on incoming aircrew, the city’s health chief has said, confirming the existence of tougher rules due to be announced next week. A 14-day quarantine order is expected to be imposed on crewmembers of long-haul flights as Hong Kong seeks to contain a surge of Covid-19 infections, a move that could plunge the struggling aviation industry into a fresh crisis. Health minister Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the tighter quarantine requirements were warranted, as the city was reporting daily infections in the high double digits. “Under the premise of watertight measures and stringent prevention, we don’t have other alternatives,” Chan said Thursday. “Also, the virus is more active during winter and there have been more mutated strains … therefore, we hope to be more stringent. We are sorry about that.” Sources said pilots and cabin crew from Hong Kong, after a layover in any country, would be required to undergo quarantine in a hotel for 14 days upon returning to the city. The impact would hit Cathay Pacific the hardest, as it is by far the largest operator of such flights in the city. “The quarantine plan will affect local aircrew who operate a flight with an overseas layover – and it doesn’t matter if it’s a passenger or cargo flight – and it means those carriers which do long-haul or air cargo will be affected,” a source familiar with the plan said.<br/>