Quarantine arrangements revised: local air crew must follow strict layover rules

The government revised its quarantine rules for local air crew on 4 October, making locally based crew going overseas subject to strict layover conditions.

They must avoid mask-off activities save for eating and drinking and refrain from joining mass gathering and going to crowded areas.

Upon arriving at Hong Kong International Airport, they must undergo a “test and hold arrangement,” meaning they can only leave the airport after securing a negative nucleic acid test result.

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Air crew are also subjected to daily nucleic acid tests until the fourth day following their arrival.

The Government also instructed airlines to implement robust mechanisms to ensure their air crew’s compliance with the requirements during their layover.

An air crew member’s qualifications for the designated quarantine arrangements will be revoked if he or she fails to comply with the requirements.

Also, airlines should introduce internal measures for imposing a penalty on non-compliant air crew.