percysmith

We’ve lost air mail (incl Speedpost) to AU/CA/MX/US https://hongkongpost.hk/en/about_us/...ex_id_823.html

fakecd

surprised not mentioned but govt announced quarantine hotel list thru to 31July22. so i dont think this measures get lifted this year.

joke amongst my collgues is "at least no quarantine for departing hong kong permanently"

LYuen

Out of curiosity, I believe the operations of foreign airlines to HKG are equally hit by the restriction, e.g. crew turnaround.
I heard for Finnair ferries another team of crews on their flights to Hong Kong to avoid the turnaround in Hong Kong
What are/will be the more sustainable pax service out of Hong Kong, say for Europe and America?
SQ which they can utilize the same crew for the return? Middle East carriers?

brunos

Longhaul airlines flying into HK have to avoid the crew quarantine/hospital risk, so they don't let their crew touch HK soil. That means either boarding two crews from their departure point or making a "technical" stop near HK (like BKK or ICN) where they change crew and a separate crew does say BKK-HKG-BKK. Many airlines decided that it was not worth the trouble. It seems that VS and AC are suspending their HK service.
But that does not reduce the risk of the airline being suspended for 14 days because of one of the several Government circuit breakers. And the risk is much higher nowadays with rapidly transmissible Omicron where incubation can be less than 48h. AFter several frequent suspensions (say it takes 3 or 4 days for an airline to be suspended again), I wonder if those airlines will want to keep operating with only pax on the HK outbound.

Transiting through an Asia airline might be more attractive (e.g. SQ, OZ, KE, NH, JL..) might be a bit more attractive. It is cheaper for them to keep operating the regional flight to HK as they only need one crew. SQ is even more attractive as they don't allow transit in SIN on the way to HKG. Hence the risk of infected pax is lower and they don't carry many pax on that inbound anyway. If they are suspended, it does not make a huge difference for them.

Just my two cents as I face the same situation.

unfrequentflyer

Double the ticket price. I am sure the people who want to leave Hong Kong can afford it.

realgaga

Don't know the situation with other carriers but I'm sure that QR crew has done a turnaround (instead of a layover like pre-Covid) since the restrictions were imposed in 2020.

percysmith

Using a double crew, surely?

realgaga

No, same crew.

brunos

That seems very surprising and seems to violate any reasonable safety issue.
QR818 departs DOH 02:45 arrives and lands 15:05. QR817 departs HKH at 19:10 and lands at 23:40 DOH. Adding a couple of hours before departure at DOH, that means that pilots would work near 24h. They cannot use the normal crew for that duration, even if they nap. There must be extra pilots.

realgaga

One CSD told me that there are 2 sets of pilots but one set of cabin crew.

tentseller

Definitely two cockpit crew, one inbound and one outbound.

Full FA staff needed to be active only during takeoff and landing to man the exits and other duties. They will be resting off duty during cruising.

brunos

That's more reasonable.
Currently, there is only need for one cabin crew o the return flight HKG-DOH.
But I strongly doubt that the same crew will operate both legs once QR is not banned anymore.
Extra longhauls for flights above 15h have special staffing and I would guess that it might be the same here, or double crew.
That is academic anyway, as I suspect that QR818 will be banned gain in a few days.

fallinasleep

That's more reasonable except that we're talking about QR here. Wouldn't be surprised if QR has the bare minimum cabin crew and forces them to work both legs.

Agree that QR will be banned again very soon.

realgaga

They work both legs even when the inbound to HKG isn't banned.

sbs2716g

today it was reported that 2 AY cabin crew tested positive in HKG. So they do get off the plane? (Maybe the incoming plane have no paxes?, so the crews did layover)?