Cathay Pacific reopens Hong Kong first, business lounges

The flagship The Wing and The Pier once again welcome travellers, with more lounges to follow…

By David Flynn, January 9 2023
Cathay Pacific reopens Hong Kong first, business lounges

Cathay Pacific is rolling out the welcome mat at two of its flagship Hong Kong lounges this week, following the reopening of travel to mainland China on Sunday January 8.

That reopening means Hong Kong airport is no longer physically split into separate zones for travellers in transit or headed to mainland China, which in turn dictated which Cathay Pacific lounges a traveller could visit based.

Instead, The Wing First is now the go-to for all first class flyers, along with those holding Cathay Diamond status or its Oneworld Emerald equivalent. 

Cathay Pacific's The Wing First lounge.
Cathay Pacific's The Wing First lounge.

Likewise, The Pier Business is open to business class travellers and those with Cathay Gold status or its Oneworld Sapphire equivalent.

Cathay Pacific's The Pier Business lounge.
Cathay Pacific's The Pier Business lounge.

The downside of course is that The Pier lounges are down the far end of the terminal, making for a bit of a trek to the lounge and back for business class passengers and mid-tier frequent flyers.

Things will become more convenient for that portion of the jetset once The Wing Business lounge unlocks its doors, and a spokesperson for Cathay Pacific tells Executive Traveller “we are working towards re-opening more lounges.”

That list would of course include The Pier First and The Deck.

However, the interregnum of 2020-2022 saw Cathay pull down the shutters on The Bridge lounge, while Qantas also permanently closed its own Hong Kong lounge.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

31 Jan 2013

Total posts 14

Cathay have really done a disservice to Business Class passengers with the closure of The Bridge, there's no convenient lounge for Gates 30-50, with a fairly decent walk required back to The Wing or The Deck (fairly average lounge) or along the opposite concourse to The Pier at Gate 65. With 2 of the 5 previous Cathay Business Lounges plus Qantas' Lounge closed capacity will be a concern as the flight schedule normalises throughout 2023. 

It'll be interesting to see what Cathay's future plans are, hopefully creating a new lounge somewhere around the far end of the central concourse to provide more options / capacity. With Airport Express transfers from Central, those of us who live in Hong Kong limit the time in the airport pre-flight, having a lounge close to the departure gate for a quick drink / refresh between the office and being onboard is vital, a 10-15min walk to a lounge often makes it not worth the effort (1st world problem I know).

09 Jan 2023

Total posts 3

The Pier J has been a good solution while Hong Kong had so many restrictions on visitors. I was amazed at how big it is - it must be the largest lounge at the airport by a fair amount.

Now that Hong Kong is fully open I would hope Cathay open other lounges quickly, in line with the airline increasing their flight schedules.


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