Covid: BA suspends Hong Kong flights amid crew quarantine

The image is from the same source.

British Airways has stopped flights to Hong Kong due to reports that more of its crew members have been forced to be in a government centre.

The flights have been temporarily stopped while we review operational requirements for this route.

The South China Morning Post reported that most of the crew members were sent to the camp after one of them tested positive for Covid.

The week before, there was a similar incident.

A pilot for BA tested positive for the virus on November 20. The pilot and other crew were sent to Hong Kong because they were considered close contact.

The Department of Health in Hong Kong told the South China Morning Post that the crew members had returned to the UK.

Concerns over the new Covid variant, Omicron, have been found in the UK and Hong Kong.

"We're supporting crew who are currently isolating in Hong Kong," said BA.

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.

In December, some passenger flights have been canceled due to staff shortages. The airline has a "closed loop" system in which crew working on three week shifts have to stay in their hotel rooms between flights before going into a 14-day smilment when they return home.

Hong Kong wants to open the border with mainland China.

The airline apologized to customers who had their travel plans disrupted and will be in touch to give them options.

The image is from the same source.

The image caption is.

The Hong Kong government has aQuarantine centre inPenny's Bay.

Following the discovery of the Omicron variant, the British Airways temporarily stopped flights to six southern African counties.

The government temporarily banned travel from South Africa, as well as Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Eswatini.

Unless they are UK or Irish nationals, people from these countries will not be allowed to enter.

Travelers will have to pay for a 10 day stay in a government approved hotel.

The government has announced that arrivals to the UK will need to take a test by the end of the second day after arrival, and then isolated until they get a negative result. The changes are expected to take effect on Tuesday.

Sajid Javid told the Andrew Marr Show that the measure will come into force on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization has called Omicron a "variant of concern", but it is not clear if the variant is resistant to existing vaccines or how transmissible it is.

The travel industry trade body, ABTA, understands that this is a rapidly evolving situation and public health must come first.

The decision to require all arrivals to take a test and self-isolate until a negative result is returned is a huge blow for travel businesses, many of whom were only just starting to get back on their feet after 20 months of severe restrictions.

The emergence of the new Covid strain caused shares in airlines and other companies to tumble on Friday. Concerns that Omicron could hamper the economic recovery caused stock markets to fall.

The business correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Travel companies spent Saturday and Sunday trying to determine if customers need a test when they arrive in the UK next week.

The policy was announced without giving a date for when it would come in, giving the industry little information to give their passengers.

One industry official said that this just turns off the tap, with the public less confident to book trips abroad.

The travel industry is concerned.

The changes might affect the confidence of consumers in the build up to Christmas.

January bookings for the summer are crucial as holiday bookings often drop at this time of year. The industry is in limbo until the government reviews the measures.

If it is clear that there is no risk to the UK vaccine programme, the decision to require airline passengers to take a test on day two of arrival should be kept under careful review.

The government must now consider offering tailored support for travel businesses, which have been among the hardest hit during the Pandemic.

Thousands of jobs have been cut by airlines since the beginning of the Covid epidemic. Last year, Rolls-Royce announced it would be cutting its workforce.