One of the world's top-ranked airlines just confirmed it's tracking you from airport to plane

Cathay Pacific confirmed to Business Insider on Tuesday that it uses cameras in airport lounges and on planes for passenger and crew protection.

The Hong Kong-based airline does not have cameras in its seat-back entertainment screens, it said.

On Monday, ongoing protests in the financial center disrupted hundreds of Cathay Flights.

Cathay Pacific has revealed it uses cameras to monitor passengers both in the airport and on flights.

The Hong Kong-based airline, consistently ranked one of the best in the world, confirmed to Business Insider on Tuesday that it uses CCTV camera footage in airport lounges and plane cabins to protect customers and staff. CNN and The Independent first reported the news.

“In line with standard practice and to protect our customers and frontline staff, there are CCTV cameras installed in our airport lounges and onboard aircraft (one camera, positioned near the cockpit door) for security purposes,” an airline representative said in an email.

The representative said that, like many other airlines have stated publicly in recent months, its seat-back in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems do not have cameras.

“Our inflight entertainment systems do not have any cameras, microphones or sensors to monitor passengers, nor have they in the past,” the airline said.

Earlier this year, viral photos of cameras in seat-back screens caused an uproar on social media. Many airlines, including American and Singapore, confirmed they have never used the cameras, which are sometimes included by default from the devices' manufacturer as a potential seat-to-seat video chatting option.

At the time, Panasonic and Thales, two of the devices' leading manufacturers, told Business Insider:

While the company does include cameras as part of its inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, at no time have these cameras been activated or used in any manner by either Panasonic Avionics or its customers. The cameras have simply been included to support potential future applications like seat-to-seat video conferencing.

Panasonic Avionics will never activate any feature or functionality within an IFE system without explicit direction from an airline customer.