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Crew quarantine forces BA to suspend Hong Kong flights

British Airways has temporarily stopped flights to Hong Kong amid reports more of its crew members have been forced to quarantine in a government centre.

The airline confirmed that flights had been suspended “while we review operational requirements for this route”.

One BA worker was reported by the South China Morning Post to having had tested positive for Covid, leading to most crew members being sent to the quarantine camp.

In a previous case, a BA crew member tested positive for the virus on November 20. The employee and other crew, classed as “close contact”, were sent to Hong Kong’s Penny’s Bay quarantine centre.

A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Department of Health told the newspaper that those crew members had since returned to the UK.

BA confirmed that the Hong Kong service had suspended until November 30.

A spokesperson said: “We have made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend flights to Hong Kong while we review operational requirements for this route.

“We apologise to our customers who have had their travel plans disrupted and will be in touch to give them options.

“We’re supporting crew who are currently isolating in Hong Kong. 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.”

It comes amid concern over the new Omicron Covid variant, cases of which have been discovered in a number of places including the UK and Hong Kong after being detected in South Africa.

BA and Virgin Atlantic flights to South Africa have been cancelled since Friday as a result a the country and other African nations were placed on the red travel list.

The carrier said: “We will re-start our flights to South Africa as soon as it is feasible to do so.

“Customers returning to the UK will need to arrange and pay for government-approved hotel quarantine before their departure.”

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