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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
This once-impressive lounge now fully lags behind the two other business class hub lounges at the airport with the same access requirements (with no shower or rest facilities). To be fair, it usually also is the quietest out of the three lounges, so could be an option if you'd like a more serene environment for a drink or a bite to eat |
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During my mad trip to Shanghai and Helsinki, I flew Cathay Pacific business class from Hong Kong to Shanghai. Prior to that, I stopped by a few lounges that the airport operates in Hong Kong, their hub airport. I haven’t reviewed any of these lounges in almost ten years, so I figured it was time for me to rewrite reviews of these lounges.
My first stop was Cathay Pacific’s The Wing, located by the airport’s gate 3. Cathay Pacific’s The Wing feels like a “spent” lounge – it’s due to undergo a refresh soon, but right now, it’s got the most outdated amenities, has no showers, and is the smallest of the three Cathay Pacific lounges currently operating. That’s in contrast to The Bridge and The Pier, which have some outstanding lounge amenities that make them best-in-class.
However, my experience over the times I’ve passed through these lounges is that The Bridge and The Pier have a crowding issue, whereas The Wing doesn’t tend to have the same problem. For that reason, it might be worth stopping by The Wing, given that it still has some decent amenities to take advantage of (for example, an espresso bar and great cocktails).
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Access and Opening Hours
Cathay Pacific’s The Wing business class lounge is open from 5:30 AM to 12:30 AM, covering most Cathay Pacific departures from the airport. Access is open to:
- those flying Cathay Pacific or Oneworld business class
- those with Oneworld Sapphire status or above flying a Oneworld airline (do note that you need to have the frequent flyer number with status on your reservation, and can’t just flash a Sapphire membership), plus one guest: Cathay Diamond members can bring two guests
- those with Cathay Silver status flying a Cathay Pacific or codeshare flight
- those with a lounge pass issued by Cathay Pacific
- Cargo Clan elite members, plus one guest
If you’re connecting between business and economy/premium economy on the same itinerary (e.g. you upgraded on one segment), Cathay Pacific honours the highest booking class throughout the itinerary. This includes if your next segment is on HK Express, as long as it contains a Cathay Pacific codeshare number. However, you can’t buy access to this lounge.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Location
Cathay Pacific’s The Wing business class lounge is located by gate 3, fairly close to the airport’s south security and immigration wing. After you pass immigration, head down the escalator and follow the signs to gates 1-4, and you’ll be able to find Cathay Pacific’s The Wing business class lounge entrance somewhere around gate 3.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Entrance
When being admitted by a lounge staff member, the lounge staff informed me that there were no showers at this lounge, and to use The Bridge or The Pier if I was seeking to shower. The entire lower floor has been closed off a couple of years back, including the shower area; so I headed upstairs to the rest of the lounge.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Entrance
Once upstairs, there’s another staffed desk that can help with any flight requests and changes.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Entrance
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Main Area
Cathay Pacific’s The Wing business class lounge has three main partitioned areas. Each area is a large rectangular open-air room, though there’s a fair bit of partitioning going on within each of these areas, making for a more exclusive space.
Seating generally varied between beige and orange armchairs, some bench seating, as well as the airline’s previous-generation signature “Solus” chairs, which are individual work pods.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Seating
Man, these Solus chairs are a major throwback. I can’t believe how much hype they generated for being ergonomic, given how small the tables are and the fact that the chairs aren’t even that comfortable. I much prefer the “Solo” chairs that the airline came up with in 2016.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Solus Chairs
I’ll detail the food offerings in each individual section, as opposed to covering all the food selection within this lounge at once. This area featured a standard hot food buffet, featuring miso soup with soy milk and vegetables, Thai green chicken curry, roasted sweet potato and mushroom, and four cheese lunette pasta.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Food Spread
From here, there were expansive views of the tarmac and gate area below. They’re more obstructed than you’ll get at the other lounges (as the lounge itself is further from the terminal windows), though you do get a better vantage point due to the fact that the lounge is a couple of floors further up.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong View of Tarmac
Moving further into the lounge, you’ll find some signage pointing to other enclaves within the lounge. Aside from a departures board, you’ll also find a selection of newspapers in the hallway (which I’m not sure is a feature many people take up anymore?).
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Hallways and Newspapers
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Coffee Loft
The coffee loft is located past the main lounge area, to the right. As you’d expect, this is an area featuring barista coffee, as well as some seating you’d otherwise see in a coffee shop. There are some monitors at the back of the lounge.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Coffee Loft
Seating wise, you’ll find some bar stools, some restaurant-style table seating with rectangular tables, and some seating with round tables. You’ll also find a couple of benches.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Coffee Loft
I didn’t have coffee during this visit, though I’ve had really good experiences with coffee at Cathay Pacific lounges in the past. Given that Qantas also operates a lounge with fantastic coffee in Hong Kong, Oneworld really has a good game when it comes to lounge coffee at this airport.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Coffee Loft
Aside from coffee, you’ll find some light bites such as cookies, pie and sandwiches/rolls, as well as ice cream.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Coffee Loft
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Noodle Bar
On the other side of the hallway from the Coffee Loft is the signature Noodle Bar. Cathay Pacific’s Noodle Bar concept is a signature throughout all of their lounges. The design of this area is definitely extremely last-generation, though in my opinion it’s the most aesthetically pleasing and coherent design out of all of the spaces within this lounge.
In terms of seating, you’ll mainly find benches around communal tables of various sizes.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Noodle Bar
You’ll also find a selection of noodles, dim sum, and soup – Cathay Pacific serves soup out of the Noodle Bar at this lounge, whereas it’s self-serve at their other two lounges. I didn’t have anything to eat at this lounge this time round (since I was saving my appetite for The Bridge), though I’ve had most of the items on the menu in past. They’re quite small portions (so you can order a bigger variety of items), and all very tasty.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Noodle Bar
Aside from the made-to-order selection at the Noodle Bar, you’ll also find some local signatures available by a small buffet, including chicken thigh, Singapore-style fried noodles (which aren’t actually a Singaporean dish, but rather were invented in Hong Kong), and poached vegetables.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Noodle Bar
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Long Bar
The last feature of Cathay Pacific’s The Wing business class lounge at Hong Kong Airport is their Long Bar, featured to the side of the main lounge area. The Long Bar is what it sounds like – it’s a long bar (though I think The Bridge has the longer Long Bar out of the two). This is a staffed bar that pours champagne, cocktails, mocktails and wines, although I believe there’s no draught beer here.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Long Bar
Here’s the beverage list, which is identical to what you’ll find at the other lounges within the Cathay Pacific network here. I find the cocktails to also be very high quality across Cathay Pacific lounges.
Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Long Bar Menu
A good reason to come to The Wing
As you can see above, Cathay Pacific’s The Wing lounge is a middling lounge, and doesn’t have any unique features compared to The Bridge and The Pier (both lounges that I have high praise for). So why would you come here at all? Even if your gate is close to the lounge, I personally think the Qantas lounge is a much nicer facility, and it’s just a couple minutes’ walk from here.
However, ever since the showers at this lounge closed, Cathay Pacific staff have been telling passengers at the door to find showers at The Bridge and The Pier. This means that nobody really ends up spending that much time here, compared to the other two lounges. I was flying at 3 PM on a Friday in November (which I wouldn’t consider to be peak time – maybe I’m wrong?), and both The Bridge and The Pier were packed to the gills, whereas this lounge was fairly quiet. WiFi across the lounge is also fast and easy to connect to.
So if you’re looking for a good coffee or a drink, don’t need to shower, and don’t have access to the Qantas lounge (or would like to lounge hop), I reckon The Wing is still worth checking out. The seating is nowhere near as comfortable and the features are much less interesting than Cathay Pacific’s other lounges, though you’ll find a much quieter atmosphere here. That can be a great thing if you’re looking to hop on a call or get some work done before your flight.
This lounge will close in 2027 for renovations and re-open with a design similar to what you can find at The Bridge and The Pier (and The Deck, which has been temporarily recommissioned as a first class lounge), after which there’ll probably be a more even capacity allocation across the four business class lounges that will be open by that time.
Conclusion: Cathay Pacific The Wing Business Class Lounge
Cathay Pacific’s The Wing is easily the most underwhelming lounge out of the three currently available business class lounges at Hong Kong Airport. There are no showers, the decor is outdated and not very comfortable, and there are fewer features and facilities compared to the airline’s other two lounges at the other end of the airport (as well as their Oneworld partner Qantas’ lounge, which is very close by). The Bridge and The Pier are industry-leading facilities, whereas objectively this lounge isn’t anywhere close (though still not terrible, as the catering is very good).
However, if you’re not looking for a shower, I reckon The Wing could be the most serene space to do so out of the three. The lounge simply isn’t as popular anymore, which means that it’s the only Cathay Pacific business class lounge at the airport without a crowding issue.
I can’t wait for this lounge to undergo a much-needed renovation. Once this lounge receives its refresh, along with The Deck returning to the business class lounge portfolio, Cathay Pacific will have a powerhouse set of lounges at their hub airport.
Have you visited Cathay Pacific’s The Wing lounge at Hong Kong Airport?
