VACCINTATED Hong Kong-based air crew on cargo planes will no longer be made to suffer 14-day quarantine at Hong Kong's airport, reports IHS Media.
'Just this week, the government announced that it would lift the mandatory quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Hong Kong-based air crew,' said Cathay Pacific chief commercial officer Ronald Lam, adding that this removes a major obstacle to freight operations.
While there has been no official update on the Hong Kong government's Covid website, the easing of the travel policy for cargo crews has begun, said Cathay Pacific.
The quarantine has had a devastating effect on the carrier, with passengers carried across its network down 98 per cent in the first quarter year on year, and cargo volume falling 30 per cent.
Cathay Pacific has estimated the quarantine rule added an additional US$40 million to $50 million per month to its current monthly losses of $129 million to $195 million.
'Just this week, the government announced that it would lift the mandatory quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Hong Kong-based aircrew on freighters and cargo-only passenger flights from today,' said Ronald Lam, Cathay Pacific group chief customer and commercial officer.
The constraints of losing pilots for two weeks every time they returned to Hong Kong cut Cathay Pacific's available capacity by almost 40 per cent in the first quarter, despite the operation of scores of cargo-only passenger flights, as well as chartered flights from subsidiary Air Hong Kong.
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'Just this week, the government announced that it would lift the mandatory quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Hong Kong-based air crew,' said Cathay Pacific chief commercial officer Ronald Lam, adding that this removes a major obstacle to freight operations.
While there has been no official update on the Hong Kong government's Covid website, the easing of the travel policy for cargo crews has begun, said Cathay Pacific.
The quarantine has had a devastating effect on the carrier, with passengers carried across its network down 98 per cent in the first quarter year on year, and cargo volume falling 30 per cent.
Cathay Pacific has estimated the quarantine rule added an additional US$40 million to $50 million per month to its current monthly losses of $129 million to $195 million.
'Just this week, the government announced that it would lift the mandatory quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Hong Kong-based aircrew on freighters and cargo-only passenger flights from today,' said Ronald Lam, Cathay Pacific group chief customer and commercial officer.
The constraints of losing pilots for two weeks every time they returned to Hong Kong cut Cathay Pacific's available capacity by almost 40 per cent in the first quarter, despite the operation of scores of cargo-only passenger flights, as well as chartered flights from subsidiary Air Hong Kong.
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