Thought this may help so you can see what requirements are necessary at our company. I can assure you many of our expatriate crew travel ONLY on a New Zealand passport but employed locally in London with visas through grandparents british born status. This is copied from AirNZ recruitment requirements on their web site....
United Kingdom (UK) Residency
Only permanent UK residents will be considered (including those born outside the UK who have a valid work visa for the UK).
Passport
If successful with your application you will require a current passport. Airline crew are not permitted to operate on a Mainland China Passport.
Does not specify what passport is required just residency requirements through visa is necessary
Hope this clears things up here anyway. I believe you just need to prove that Visa is able to be renewed
Cheers
D