HONG KONG- Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) confirmed that one of its London-bound flights briefly lost contact with air traffic controllers over Romanian airspace, prompting a NATO alert and a fighter jet interception on Saturday.
The Airbus A350-1000 was operating from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) when the communication gap triggered a scramble by Hungarian Gripen jets. Cathay Pacific stated that the safety of the aircraft and everyone on board was never compromised at any point.
Fighter Jets Scramble After Communication Gap
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation activated a “quick reaction alert” after the widebody jet temporarily failed to establish contact with Romanian civil air traffic control. The aircraft was flying its scheduled long-haul route from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom when the issue occurred over Central Europe.
Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi described the sequence of events in a social media post. He said the alert was ordered at 1:42 pm Central European Time on the day of the incident, after a Chinese-registered A350 on the Hong Kong to London route lost contact with Romanian civilian air traffic control while inside Romanian airspace.
Two Hungarian readiness aircraft took off at 1:51 pm to respond. The jets visually warned the aircraft near the Hungarian border, after which the flight re-established contact with air traffic control. Once the mission was complete, the Gripen pair returned to its base in Kecskemét.
Such alerts trigger an immediate armed interception by member states to protect sovereign airspace. The measure allows NATO to verify the status and intentions of any aircraft that stops responding to controllers, SCMP flagged.
Cathay Pacific Confirms Investigation
Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday that the incident remained under investigation. The airline repeated that neither the aircraft nor the people on board faced any safety risk during the flight.
The carrier did not provide further operational details while its review continued.
The aircraft carried the registration B-LXA, according to aviation tracking platform Flightradar24. Tracking data showed the jet landed safely at London Heathrow Airport at 3:20 pm Greenwich Mean Time on July 4, completing the journey after a flight time of 13 hours and 40 minutes.
The Airbus A350-1000 is a long-range widebody that Cathay Pacific operates on its premium international routes, including the direct link between Hong Kong and London.
Understanding NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert
NATO is a political and military alliance of 32 countries across North America and Europe. It was formed in 1949 and states that its primary goal is to protect the freedom and security of its members through political cooperation and collective defence.
The quick reaction alert system keeps armed fighter jets on standby at bases across the alliance.
When an aircraft loses contact or behaves unexpectedly, member nations launch these jets to identify it and guide it back into normal communication. In this case, the response ended without incident once contact resumed.
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