16 February 2026
Chicago 12, Melborne City, USA

British man, 35, arrested after damaging check-in kiosks at Hong Kong International Airport

A 35-year-old British man has been arrested after a viral video appeared to show him damaging self-service check-in kiosks in the early morning of Monday at the Hong Kong International Airport.

A screenshot of a video showing a man smashing a self-service check-in kiosk with a metal post at the Hong Kong International Airport on February 16, 2026. Photo: Screenshot, via Threads.
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Social media footage that went viral on Monday showed a man pushing over the kiosks at the airport’s departure hall and smashing them with a metal post.

The Airport Authority told HKFP that at around 6am on Monday, a man damaged roughly 10 smart check-in kiosks, some railings and nearby counters at Aisle J of the airport’s Terminal 1.

“Airport Authority staff and airport security personnel rushed to the scene and warned the man to stop causing further damage,” a spokesperson for the authority said. “Police have arrested the man and launched an investigation.”

Police said the man is a 35-year-old British tourist and that he was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and possession of “Part 1” poisons.

Four Viagra pills, a prescription drug used to treat impotence, were found in the man’s backpack, according to police.

In Hong Kong, it is illegal to possess Viagra without a doctor’s prescription. Offenders face a maximum penalty of two years in jail and a HK$100,000 fine.

A screenshot of a video showing a man pushing over a self-service check-in kiosk at the Hong Kong International Airport on February 16, 2026. Photo: Screenshot, via Threads.
A screenshot of a video showing a man pushing over a self-service check-in kiosk at the Hong Kong International Airport on February 16, 2026. Photo: Screenshot, via Threads.

Local media reported that the man came to Hong Kong in November and was planning to buy a flight ticket leaving Hong Kong on Monday morning.

He reportedly was emotionally unstable when he arrived at Aisle J of Terminal 1, using his trolley to knock down railings before toppling the kiosks and damaging a glass panel.

Police officers arrested him at the bus unloading area at the airport.

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Hans Tse

Hans Tse is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in local politics, academia, and media transformation. He was previously a social science researcher, with writing published in the Social Movement Studies and Social Transformation of Chinese Societies journals. He holds an M.Phil in communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Before joining HKFP, he also worked as a freelance reporter for Initium between 2019 and 2021, where he covered the height – and aftermath – of the 2019 protests, as well as the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.


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