Cathay Pacific Airways is in the spotlight following two recent food poisoning incidents affecting passengers on flights from Nepal. The most concerning event occurred on flight CX640, which landed in Hong Kong early Thursday, where over a dozen passengers reported feeling unwell, necessitating the dispatch of multiple ambulances to the airport.

The sequence of events began when ten passengers on this flight experienced symptoms including vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain shortly after consuming meals on board. Earlier, the first incident on Wednesday involved the same flight, with indications suggesting that sandwiches eaten prior to boarding might be the source of the contamination.

According to the Centre for Health Protection, the sick passengers had consumed takeaway meals—comprising chicken, cucumber, and tomato sandwiches—approximately two hours before their flight. Symptoms manifested 10 to 30 minutes after additional in-flight meals were served, which included bread, fruit, salad, lamb rice, chicken rice, and ice cream. A representative from the Centre has stated, “Based on epidemiological information currently available, it is likely that the sandwiches were the source of the outbreak.”

While none of the affected individuals required hospitalization, the Cathay Pacific spokesperson expressed regret over the incidents. “We sincerely apologize to the affected passengers for any inconvenience caused,” she said, emphasizing that the airline is cooperating with health authorities and managing the situation with full transparency. The airline plans to conduct a thorough investigation and indicated that the source of the contamination appears to lie outside of their operations, although they are not ruling out food served on the flights.

The ongoing investigation seeks to determine whether there is a direct link between the two incidents, as health officials have reported a total of 36 affected passengers across both days. Passengers who believe they may have been affected have been encouraged to contact the health department for assessment.

In response to the alarming events, Cathay Pacific has pledged to sanitize the aircraft comprehensively before returning to service and continues to monitor the health and well-being of all its passengers. Further updates regarding the investigation will be provided as they become available. For now, the airline urges passengers to remain vigilant regarding food consumption during air travel and to report any symptoms immediately.

For further details, please visit the original articles from the South China Morning Post.