By Will Lee
Cathay Pacific Introduced Covid-19 Insurance
Cathay Pacific Airways needs to lure the essential travel and boost passengers’ confidence after being hit by the coronavirus. The airline has introduced a free Covid-19 insurance to its passengers for the trips are commenced between Dec. 7 and Feb. 28 inclusive.
Per a Cathay Pacific press release, the coverage applies to passengers who are flying with an air ticket issued by Cathay Pacific. This includes flights operated by Cathay Pacific or by one of its codeshare or interline partners. Passengers will be automatically covered by the insurance regardless their nationality, and the coverage will be effective once the trip is commenced and valid for 30 days or upon their return to their home country, whichever is earlier. The travelers will be covered wherever outside their home country except in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, Crimea and Sevastopol.
Passengers will get an allowance of $100 each day for up to 14 days during periods of unforeseen mandatory quarantine. The insurance also covers the cost of all overseas PCR tests. In case a passengers is diagnosed with Covid-19, Cathay Pacific will take care of the passengers’ medical expenses and quarantine costs, subject to applicable limits and exclusion. However, the insurance cover only applies overseas, so treatment in passengers’ home country will not be covered.
The Hong Kong-based airline has been experiencing its toughest period in history due to the pandemic. The airline relied on a cargo business that “continues to be the better performer,” according to the airline’s latest traffic figure.
In October, the group cut 6,000 staff and ceased the operation of the Cathay Dragon brand. As a result of travel restrictions, the airline announced that some long-haul services have been suspended, including Washington D.C., Newark, Seattle and London.
Recently, Cathay Pacific has been facing another setback. In response to the surge in coronavirus cases in Hong Kong, the travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore has been put on hold until 2021.
“Looking at it between my counterpart and I, we decided there’s no point in trying to give any hope that it can be commenced in the middle of the month,” the Transport Minister of Singapore, Ye-Kung Ong, said, per Straits Times. The travel bubble between two cities will be reviewed between Christmas and the New Year. Singapore is the only destination that Hong Kong has reached a travel bubble agreement thus far.
In the meantime, Hong Kong International Airport has rolled out Covid-19 rapid test for the departing passengers. Travelers have to arrive the airport at least four hours before departure so they can obtain a result on the same day before travel.
Will has been a travel agent in Hong Kong for almost three decades, as time goes by he hasn’t lost his passion for his job, He still has plenty of enthusiasm for the airline industry and airport operations.
