Two former Cathay Pacific Airways flight attendants on Thursday were each sentenced to eight weeks in jail for breaching Covid-19 quarantine rules in Hong Kong while infected with the highly contagious Omicron variant. They were thought to be responsible last year for sparking one of the earliest clusters in the city’s fifth and most severe wave of infections. Wong Yoon-loong and Nilsson Lau Kok-wang, both 45, were initially jailed for nine weeks. But the court gave each of them a discount of a week, citing “valid mitigation” in losses in employment and associated benefits. Magistrate Edward Wong Ching-yu on Thursday said the case was serious because the pair had already been exempted from self-isolation, but had abused their rights and privileges and carried out “totally unnecessary activities” infecting nine members of the public. Eastern Court had remanded them in custody since last month, pending sentencing, noting that their offences were serious and warranted immediate imprisonment. They stood trial in August and October on a total of three counts of failing to observe the conditions specified by a health officer, after their guilty pleas were rejected by the court. Story has details.<br/>
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Qantas will see a sixth Airbus A380 join its fleet in December, as it plans to start operating additional international destinations. The sixth A380 – out of a total of 10 in Qantas’s fleet – will rejoin the carrier from storage and commence services from the middle of the month, which the carrier says will provide “more operational resilience over the busy Christmas holidays.” From 3 December, Qantas will also operate three-times-weekly on the Melbourne-Dallas Fort Worth route with Boeing 787s, adding to the carrier’s Sydney-Dallas Forth Worth service. Qantas outlined its plans in an update about its plan for the upcoming southern hemisphere summer. On 10 December, the carrier will also start operating four-times-weekly on the Sydney-Seoul route. In addition, the carrier has resumed services on the Brisbane-Tokyo route with A330s, but the resumption is to Tokyo Haneda – before its suspension the Brisbane route was operated to Tokyo Narita. A330s will also replace Boeing 737s on Sydney-Bali flights until 26 January, and flights are being added on Trans-Tasman routes to New Zealand and to the Pacific island if Fiji. December will also see three new A321Lrs join Jetstar, following the arrival of the first example in August. These aircraft will be deployed on Australia-Bali routes. In November, Qantas upgraded its profit forecast for the first half of the 2023 financial year, citing “continued strength” in travel demand, particularly on its domestic network.<br/>
Baggage handlers filmed throwing luggage and slamming bags onto a conveyor belt at Melbourne airport have been immediately stood down pending an investigation. The minute-long footage, reportedly filmed at Melbourne airport, shows baggage handlers deliberately slamming luggage into a conveyor belt, throwing suitcases high into the air, and hurling one bag so forcefully it falls off the conveyor belt altogether. The three men, in hi-vis jackets, are unloading a Qantas-branded luggage container. They can be seen smiling as they throw luggage on to the conveyor belt. Amid outrage online, the footage has been set to the song I Still Call Australia Home, which is used by Qantas in its advertising campaigns. The men are employees of Qantas subcontractor Swissport, which Qantas uses to perform “ground handling services” at Melbourne airport. “The behaviour in this video is clearly not acceptable, and our contracted ground handler is conducting an urgent investigation,” a Qantas spokesperson told the Guardian. The Guardian understands the men will not work on Qantas flights again. A spokesperson for Swissport said: “Swissport trains and manages all staff to handle customer possessions with care and diligence. The actions of staff in the video appear to have contravened those service level standards. As a result, the staff in question have been stood down pending an urgent investigation.”<br/>