But Cathay Pacific flight attendants are shunning that extra time away from home and are instead begging the Hong Kong-based airline to bring them home as soon as possible – in some cases without any layover at all.

Flight attendants normally like to enjoy long layovers in sought-after international destinations, but crew at one airline would prefer to spend less time away from home and are asking their airline to bring them home as soon as possible.

After most long-haul flights, flight attendants normally have just 24 hours to explore their destination, socialise and get some rest before flying all the way back home. After the longest flights, the layover period can be extended to 48 hours or even longer which means more time to enjoy a destination and better pay.

But Cathay Pacific flight attendants are shunning that extra time away from home and are instead begging the Hong Kong-based airline to bring them home as soon as possible – in some cases without any layover at all.

The reason is that Hong Kong’s government expects aircrew to comply with onerous ‘closed loop’ protocols when they arrive at their destination. Essentially, that means aircrew must isolate themselves away from the local population by locking themselves in their hotel rooms.

In 2021, Cathay Pacific cabin crew spent a collective 73,000 nights in quarantine – either in closed loop isolation in foreign countries or back in Hong Kong. One thousand crew even spent more than 11,000 nights in the notorious Penny’s Bay quarantine camp.

Last week, the Hong Kong government finally lifted quarantine requirements on aircrew who were returning to the territory but only on the proviso that pilots and cabin crew continue to isolate themselves downroute.
In effect, Cathay Pacific cabin crew are still being expected to regular endure quarantine as the rest of the world moves on from any form of isolation or lockdown.

Now, the flight attendant union is asking the airline to reduce layover times to a maximum of 28 hours and in some cases, flight attendants say the company should provide more crew so that they work just one sector and come home straight away.

Of course, what flight attendants really want is the freedom to leave their hotel rooms, but that will require a big change in policy from the Hong Kong government. Sources claim a big announcement is in the works, but nothing has yet been formally confirmed.

Cathay Pacific carried just 253,907 passengers in August and whilst changes to quarantine rules are welcome, the airline has warned that it will take time to build up capacity as pandemic travel restrictions are lifted.