A 51-year-old man who fainted on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight to Hong Kong from the United Kingdom was pronounced dead on Friday morning.

Flight CX216 took off from Manchester and landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 6.35am on Friday.

Police said they received a report about the man’s collapse at 6.16am, adding that the deceased had a history of illness.

In a reply to the South China Morning Post, a Cathay Pacific spokesman said the crew and a doctor on board had provided immediate first aid to the victim. An ambulance was called, with paramedics boarding the aircraft once it had landed.

The airline expressed condolences to the passenger’s family.