Latest news with #CathayPacificAirways
South China Morning Post
10-05-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Cathay drink mix-up: why it happened and how to protect yourself
A flight attendant with Cathay Pacific Airways mistakenly served a glass of white wine to a three-year-old boy seated in business class last month, raising concerns over the health risks caused by a mix-up of wrong drinks and food for passengers. Advertisement The Post explores how easily a mix-up of drinks can happen during flights and outlines the steps passengers can take to protect themselves from accidentally consuming food that may affect their health. 1. How did a three-year-old get served wine? A family of three boarded Cathay flight CX255 from Hong Kong to London on the night of April 24, with each of them occupying a business class seat: the boy by the window and his father next to him in the aisle. A crew member mistakenly served the boy a glass of wine instead of water that he ordered. The boy took a sip and said the water was too sour. Another crew member apologised and replaced the drink, but the parents escalated the matter to a senior crew member, who then paged a French doctor on board. The doctor told the parents the child would be fine, adding that children as young as five could take alcohol in her country. The senior crew member also sought ground-based medical advisory service via in-flight Medlink, and said no further advice was given except to give the boy more water and monitor the child. So far, the child has not reported any discomfort or sickness. Advertisement The carrier offered to refund the child's ticket with three one-class upgrade vouchers and cover the costs of any incident-related medical check-ups. But the parents were not satisfied, expressing concern over whether the alcohol sip her son took would result in long-term health issues.
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific says operations unaffected by India-Pakistan clashes
Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has said its operations remain unaffected by the conflict between India and Pakistan, which has forced some other airlines to re-route or cancel flights to and from Europe. Advertisement Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday evening that it did not operate passenger flights in Pakistani airspace. And its cargo flights over Pakistan had been paused since the end of April. 'Cathay Pacific proactively reviews areas of concern to ensure all our flight routings remain safe,' a spokesman said. 03:12 India launches strikes on Pakistan, Islamabad vows to 'settle the score' India launches strikes on Pakistan, Islamabad vows to 'settle the score' Meanwhile, some Asian airlines said they were re-routing or cancelling flights to and from Europe because of the regional conflict. India launched air strikes against Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, marking the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed rivals in more than two decades. Pakistan claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets in response. Domestic flights in both countries were also disrupted. Advertisement New Delhi shut several airports, resulting in flights by Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air being cancelled.
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific says operations unaffected by India-Pakistan clashes
Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has said its operations remain unaffected by the conflict between India and Pakistan, which has forced some other airlines to re-route or cancel flights to and from Europe. Advertisement Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday evening that it did not operate passenger flights in Pakistani airspace. And its cargo flights over Pakistan had been paused since the end of April. 'Cathay Pacific proactively reviews areas of concern to ensure all our flight routings remain safe,' a spokesman said. 03:12 India launches strikes on Pakistan, Islamabad vows to 'settle the score' India launches strikes on Pakistan, Islamabad vows to 'settle the score' Meanwhile, some Asian airlines said they were re-routing or cancelling flights to and from Europe because of the regional conflict. India launched air strikes against Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, marking the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed rivals in more than two decades. Pakistan claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets in response. Domestic flights in both countries were also disrupted. Advertisement New Delhi shut several airports, resulting in flights by Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air being cancelled.
NDTV
07-05-2025
- Health
- NDTV
Airline Faces Backlash After Serving White Wine To 3-Year-Old In Business Class
Quick Take Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. A Cathay Pacific flight attendant served white wine to a child. The incident occurred on April 24 on a flight from Hong Kong to London. The boy's mother criticized the airline for lacking accountability and care. Cathay Pacific Airways has come under fire after a flight attendant mistakenly served white wine to a three-year-old boy travelling in business class, sparking outrage and raising serious concerns about in-flight safety protocols. The incident took place on April 24 during a flight from Hong Kong to London. The boy's mother, identified only as Ms Wong, shared her ordeal on the Chinese social media platform RedNote before speaking to the South China Morning Post. She accused the airline of failing to provide a clear explanation or take responsibility. "Cathay has apologised, but there's been no proper account of how this happened or what steps are being taken to prevent such mistakes in the future," Ms Wong said. She added that the airline's handling of the situation showed a lack of care for her son. While the child has not shown any immediate symptoms, Wong remains worried about possible long-term effects. "We know alcohol can have delayed impacts on a young child's development," she said, adding that she is arranging medical tests with specialists. Cathay Pacific has confirmed the error and offered compensation, including a ticket refund, upgrade vouchers, and coverage of medical expenses, valued between Rs 75,000 and Rs 85,000. The airline said an internal review is underway. "We take this matter very seriously and are implementing follow-up actions," a spokesperson said. The airline claimed its crew monitored the child during the flight and consulted both onboard medical staff and external advisors. Ms Wong recounted that the glass of white wine was placed next to her son during meal service and was initially mistaken for water. It was only when the child complained of a "sour" taste that the parents realised the drink was alcoholic. The crew apologised and replaced the drink, but Wong was dissatisfied with their response and demanded medical attention for her son. An onboard doctor examined the child and said there was no cause for concern, though the family remained uneasy. In a follow-up communication, Cathay said it had "immediately coached" cabin crew to double-check drink orders and alerted the flight's captain about the incident. Meanwhile, an anonymous Cathay flight purser told SCMP that the incident reflects deeper issues within the airline, including rushed hiring and poor training. "This is not an isolated case - service standards have dropped, and protocols like marking napkins for children's drinks are often ignored," the purser alleged. She also pointed out that while airlines have protocols, parents too must stay vigilant about what is served to their children during flights.
The Star
07-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Cathay crew member mistakenly gives boy, 3, wine on Hong Kong-London flight
A flight attendant with Cathay Pacific Airways mistakenly served a glass of white wine to a three-year-old boy seated in business class, his mother complained, as she claimed the Hong Kong flag carrier had not properly explained how the oversight happened. The boy's mother, surnamed Wong, contacted the Post after she shared the incident on the mainland Chinese social media platform, RedNote, last week. She expressed concern over whether the alcohol sip her son took would result in long-term health issues and demanded a proper explanation from the company on how it would stop similar incidents from happening again. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. But the incident happened about two weeks ago and the parents, both aged 35, have not sought a medical check-up for the child. They said the boy had not shown any symptoms of discomfort so far. The carrier offered to refund the child's ticket with three one-class upgrade vouchers and cover the costs of any incident-related medical check-ups. 'We understand that alcohol consumption in young children can have delayed neurological, developmental and physiological impacts that may not manifest immediately. We are in the process of arranging comprehensive medical assessments with paediatric specialists,' the mother said. 'Although Cathay has apologised to us about the mistake, it never gave us a proper account of the incident, nor did it show us how it will prevent it from happening again. 'During the whole process, there was a lack of care for my son. They gave me the impression that they were trying to shirk responsibility.' In a reply to the Post, a spokesman said that Cathay 'sincerely apologised' for mistakenly serving an alcoholic drink to the child during the flight, adding that an internal review had been conducted with follow-up actions. 'Out of an abundance of caution, immediately following up on the incident, our cabin crew paged medical personnel on board and consulted an independent medical agency to ensure the child's safety while providing the necessary help and support,' he said. 'Throughout the flight, our cabin crew regularly monitored the child's condition. The customers disembarked the flight as normal. 'We take this matter very seriously and have launched an internal review to ensure appropriate follow-up actions are implemented and goodwill is being offered. We will continue to support and assist the family.' The family of three boarded Cathay flight CX255 to London on the night of April 24, with each of them occupying a business class seat: the boy by the window and his father next to him in the aisle. 'The flight attendant started to serve dinner to passengers and our child just had chicken and water. We saw a glass of waterlike drink served to him and then my husband got to his seat and cut the chicken for him,' Wong recalled. 'Then my husband went back to his seat. But after a while, my son asked for water again and then we asked what was wrong, he said he took a sip and the water was too sour. We immediately took a sip and found it was white wine instead of water.' Wong said she immediately told another flight attendant about the mistake, but the crew member just apologised, took away the glass and gave him water. The mother then called out another senior flight attendant, who filed a complaint and sought ground-based medical advisory service via in-flight Medlink. Later, the crew member found a French doctor on the flight who came over and told the mother that her child would be fine, adding that children as young as five could take alcohol in his country. 'Then the senior crew member reported what the French doctor said to the Medlink, which she said gave no further advice. She simply asked us to give him water and alert them if he suffered discomfort such as nausea or fever,' Wong said. Wong said that in response to her complaint, Cathay noted in an email on April 26 that it had conducted immediate coaching for all cabin crew members to reinforce the importance of checking orders before serving them. 'The flight's pilot was made aware of the situation during the flight, and appropriate internal measures are being taken,' it said. A Cathay flight purser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed the incident was a result of the carrier's 'declining service standards' as it scrambled to hire inexperienced cabin crew to meet its expansion target without sufficient training. 'This isn't a single incident and should serve as a wake-up call for Cathay ... inexperienced cabin crew have committed many incomprehensible, silly mistakes which did not make sense,' she said. She added that for a case like this, usually the crew member should mark down on the napkin to ensure they give the right drink to the child. 'But nowadays, inexperienced crew will not care about this protocol,' she said. 'The training is very inadequate for new joiners and fails to cover many scenarios. For example, in the past, the training for a purser was at least a few weeks, but nowadays, it has been shortened to six days.' The purser said the parents had their fair share of responsibility as they should have watched over the child to ensure the right kind of food and drink were served to him. More from South China Morning Post: For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
