Airport over left luggage saga

Airport over left luggage saga

Protesters gathered in the airport arrivals hall on Sunday to vent their anger at the handling of a piece of luggage for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s daughter

Around 2,500 cabin crew members and their supporters held a rowdy sit-in at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday to protest the handling of a piece of left luggage for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s daughter last month.

Shouts echoed in the arrival hall for more than two hours as leaders of the protest group took turns to vent their anger at the Civil Aviation Department for its alleged special treatment of the daughter, Chung-yan, which the protesters claimed could have compromised flight safety.

Minor scuffles broke out as groups opposed to the protesters tried to confront them, accusing them of politicising the issue but they were quickly surrounded and left soon after. Around 20 people of Voice of Loving Hong Kong were among them, while others were said to be from the pro-government camp.

While union members said 2,500 people took part in the protest, police figures put the number at 1,000. Organisers said crew members made up 10 per cent of the protesters, with the rest being ordinary supporters.

The sit-in was organised by Hong Kong Cabin Crew Federation, representing 15,000 aviation industry people. It is also a member group under the Confederation of Trade Unions that has close ties with the opposition camp.

The federation called for direct talks with the director-general of the Civil Aviation department, warning they would otherwise take further action.

“It’s very dangerous practice,” said federation general secretary Carol Ng Man-yee, “Our job is to secure the safety of the flight and passengers.”

Ng said the luggage could be switched during the transfer when handled by a third party.

In a statement, a government spokesman said it understood the public’s concern about aviation security, but the baggage of Leung’s daughter went through security checking prior to entering the departure restricted area, which meant the safety of the airport and the aircraft was not affected in the incident. The Airport Authority will submit a report on the case to the government and appropriate follow-up action will be taken as necessary, a spokesman added.

Also at the sit-in were lawmakers and pan-democratic groups including Civic Party, Neighbourhood and Workers Services Centre, and League of Social Democrats.
“If you are a senior person of the authority, you’ve got to be better than good,” said Pokfulam District Councillor Paul Zimmerman, who attended the rally.

David Chu Yu-lin, former member of National People’s Congress, also attended the rally, and claimed that the airline company staff who handled the issue was crying when speaking to Leung on the phone.

“I am very upset because all the staff involved in the incident - none of them dared to speak up.” Chu said.

Winnie Chan, 40, a protester and clerk said: “We are not picking on CY. We are only here to express our concerns over flight safety.”

But the Staffs and Workers Union of Hong Kong Civil Airlines expressed regret that the protesters had tried to make political gains by causing trouble to airport staff and travellers.

Union spokesman Ip Wai-ming said: “If they are unhappy about the department’s handling of the case, they can go to petition the department head. I see no reason why they should occupy the airport arrival hall.” His union is a member under the pro-government Federation of Trade Union.











http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1936701/protest-hong-kong-international-airport-over-left-luggage-saga