Significant rise in airplane theft cases in 2024: govt

The government said the number of thefts on board Hong Kong-bound aircraft for the first 10 months of the year reached a seven-year high, involving property worth more than HK$4.3 million. Security minister Chris Tang on Wednesday said there were 169 such cases recorded through October, with most of them involving short-haul flights from Southeast Asia. The figure compares to 147 cases for the whole of 2019, and 103 the year before that. In a written reply to the legislature, the minister described the rise in the number of cases as significant, saying items stolen included cash, credit cards, jewellery and watches. "[The increase] might be due to the fact that the police have stepped up publicity to encourage more people to report crimes, or the overall economic situation," he wrote in response to DAB lawmaker Kennedy Wong. Four people have been arrested - one of them on remand pending trial, with another released on bail. Charges for two others were dropped because of a lack of evidence, or because witnesses refused to come to Hong Kong to testify. The minister said the government had no plans to install surveillance cameras or arrange security personal in airplane cabins for now, citing privacy reasons, manpower and the principle of proportionality. "Currently, there are no international policies regulating the installation of CCTV or arrangements of security staff on duty inside cabins, nor are these common practices generally adopted by airlines," he said. But Tang said officials would work with airlines to engage in more educational and publicity campaigns.