Cathay Pacific Airways' budget airline HK Express confirmed on Saturday a ground crew member had been fired over the handling of a passenger's confiscated Portuguese egg tarts.
The confirmation came after a social media post went viral on Wednesday, questioning whether it was proper for a ground crew member to take away the tarts and which might have been eventually consumed by the crew.
According to the airline, the ground crew member violated the company's rules for handling food left by passengers.
"The staff involved has had their employment immediately terminated by the relevant airport ground services provider and it has emphasised to all staff members the correct procedures," the company said on Saturday.
"The company allows travellers to bring food and drinks when boarding, but the food and drinks cannot be consumed inside the cabin. Ground staff will remind travellers of the relevant rules before boarding, but they will not confiscate the food of passengers."
The viral posting on Instagram included a picture of several people digging into three boxes of Portuguese egg tarts from fast food chain KFC, with a caption saying they were confiscated from a passenger who tried to bring the tarts on board.
The airline stated that it always put customers first, noting it did not tolerate any behaviour that did not comply with its service standards.
"HK Express will review its existing staff guidelines with the relevant service provider, demanding that the company involved improve its internal training, ensuring that staff providing services to HK Express passengers will have conduct and behaviour that matches professional standards," it said.
Checks by the South China Morning Post found that Greater Bay Airlines also does not allow passengers to eat outside food and drinks on board, while Hong Kong Airlines does not have specific guidelines on the matter.
The city's flag carrier Cathay Pacific allows passengers to bring food and drinks onto its aircraft but said crew members would not help passengers refrigerate or heat up their meals.
Budget airlines from other countries have varying regulations on whether passengers can eat outside food on their aircraft.
Scoot, the budget arm of Singapore Airlines, and Malaysian budget airline Air Asia prohibit outside food on board.
Japanese budget carrier Peach Aviation and Korean low-cost airlines T'way Air and Jeju Air did not have clear guidelines on outside food on their websites.
Jetstar, the budget arm of Australian airline Qantas, allows passengers to bring outside food on board.
"For safety reasons, we do not allow passengers to board with hot drinks … or bring their own alcohol for consumption during the flight," the airline states on its website.