In April 2025, Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge lounge was re-opened after a full renovation. Cathay Pacific has an extremely strong lounge portfolio in general, and it was exciting to see a new lounge open up at the airline’s hub airport. I’ve since visited it a few times, and have found it to be a great lounge each time, though a bit crowded for me to do a proper review.
This review will collate the visits I’ve had to this lounge over the months, where I tried to find opportune times to photograph the lounge when it wasn’t too crowded to do so. Apart from the crowding (which causes significant issues, especially with showers during peak hours), this is an awesome lounge – the seating is great and varied, catering is spectacular, and there’s even a Chinese light bites food stand that you won’t find at any of the airline’s other lounges. Cathay Pacific is facing a lounge crowding issue in Hong Kong due to an ongoing lounge renovation project (heavily constraining overall lounge capacity) – once these upgrades are done in 2027-2028, the airline’s hub lounge portfolio will be hard to beat.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Access and Opening Hours
Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge business class lounge is open from 5:30 AM until the last Cathay Pacific flight of the day (after 12:30 AM, it becomes the sole Cathay Pacific lounge that is open). 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 Bridge Lounge Location and Entrance
Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge lounge is located by gate 35, right at the end of the “main” corridor of the airport (before it splits into a Y-shape, covering gates 41-60 and 61-80). It’s hard to miss the lounge – just come out of the APM escalator and do a U-turn right, or head all the way down the corridor. You’ll then see a grand entrance, with escalators heading down towards the lounge.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Hong Kong Entrance
After my boarding pass was scanned, I was invited into the lounge. The way the lounge staff do this is by cuisine – Asian/Chinese to the left, and Western to the right. This seemed like a fairly accurate of how the food offering was broken down within the lounge.
The “outside” area of the lounge has some overflow seating that isn’t comfortable or cosy. I’ve never seen this area populated unless the inside is absolutely jam-packed:
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Hong Kong Overflow Seating
In this case, I’ll start by looking at the right side of the lounge, which consists of the food hall, relaxation room, and bar (there’s a relaxation room on both sides, so I’ll cover them together). Do note that there’s a separate seating area in this lounge for Cathay Pacific Diamond members and first class passengers (but, interestingly, not Oneworld Emerald members) – I didn’t fit in that category, so can’t review that area of the lounge. Instead, I just headed down the hallway towards the main relaxation area.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Hong Kong Signage and Hallway
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Relaxation Room
Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge lounge has two relaxation areas – one directly to the right of the entrance, and one directly to the left. Both of these are outfitted with Cathay Pacific’s signature lounge decor, including armchairs, sofas, and some higher-backed chairs, all padded and with earthy tones. Neither of these relaxation areas are very big, though even during peak hours you could still find spare seats here.
Cathay Pacific’s Ilse Crawford design has been around for 10+ years, though I’m such a fan of the design. It really feels like you’re in a very high-touch living room, and is probably the closest in design to my dream house out of any lounge owned by any airline.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Relaxation Room
Here’s the relaxation room on the other side of the lounge:
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Relaxation Room
Back on the right side of the lounge, there’s also an enclave with Cathay Pacific’s signature Solo chairs, which I find to be quite comfortable and good for getting some work done. Cathay Pacific generally puts these chairs in areas without much natural light, so I guess they’re more meant for resting.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Relaxation Room Solo Chairs
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Food Hall
If you head to the right side of the hallway, you’ll find Cathay Pacific’s Food Hall. This is meant to be the area serving non-Chinese cuisine – not just limited to Western, but also Korean, Japanese options etc.. Most of this food can be found from a manned food spread, though there are also some hot self-serve options.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Food Hall
In the case of my visit, there was a section dedicated to Korean hot dishes, including kimchi, glass noodles, miso tofu, etc..
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Hot Dishes
There were also some oven-baked specialties (admittedly from a slightly different visit), including beef bourguignon, Provencal vegetable bake with ricotta and pesto, and Shepherd’s pie.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Hot Dishes
You’ll also find a bakery, along with various tartlets (that seem to change throughout the different times I’ve visited).
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Pastries and bites
You’ll also be able to find a quick soft drink or machine coffee here, though if I had more time, I’d definitely head to the bar.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Drinks
This isn’t the extent of the food options available at this lounge, so I’ll save my overall thoughts on the dining options until the conclusion.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Bar
At the far end of the lounge’s right side, you’ll find a bar, mimicking Cathay Pacific’s “Long Bar” concept from the previous iteration of The Bridge. This is a fully staffed bar, with the option to find barista coffee as well.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Bar
Cathay Pacific has a respectable wine and cocktails list with all the classics and a few signatures, though the bartender will whip up cocktails based on your preferences as well. I’ve been to this lounge a few times over the past year, and never had a bad drink here.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Menu
In one case I had the Ilaria, which was the “innovation cocktail”. I’m not sure why it was called an innovation cocktail, though it was refreshing and citrusy (this is the evening I struggled to get a shower at this lounge, prior to my premium economy flight to London).
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Cocktail
On another occasion I visited during the afternoon, and had a coffee, which Cathay Pacific provides in partnership with illy. I will say, Cathay Pacific has some of the best lounge coffee I’ve had (alongside Qantas). The latte that I had in this case was very good, and there’s the option to get flavoured coffee as well.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Coffee
You’ll also find some regional snacks that go with coffee and/or cocktails, from prawn toast and samosas (a prime accompaniment to a Hong Kong-style bar), to more traditional biscuits and sweet coffee accompaniments.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Coffee Snacks
Regardless of how crowded I found the lounge to be, I’d undoubtedly pop here for a drink. Just note that this is a bar in the more “traditional” sense (as in, most of the bar features literal bar seating) – The Pier has a more open “cocktail bar” vibe, and is within a 5-minute walk away. I’d check out both if you have the time, though this is worth being aware of.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Noodle Bar
I’m now going to move over to the other side of the lounge, which you can find by turning left at the entrance.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Lounge Directions
The first thing you’ll find is the airline’s signature Noodle Bar. This isn’t as big a space as you’ll find at The Pier, though you’ll still find cha chaan teng-style booths, some low stools, and some bar seating.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Noodle Bar
The noodle bar itself features made-to-order dim sum and noodle dishes. Order at the counter, and you’ll get a buzzer to pick your food up when it’s ready. While I haven’t had anything from the noodle bar in this particular lounge, I can vouch for the fact that Cathay Pacific always has excellent food quality from their noodle bars, and would imagine this noodle bar is no exception. I also don’t remember seeing biangbiang noodles on the menu before, so would love to try it out next time I’m back.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Noodle Bar and Menu
There’s also a small food spread with Chinese options, including sweet and sour pork, fried vermicelli Xiamen-style, steamed eggplant with black garlic, and sweet green mung bean soup. Additionally, there was a cold spread with mango pudding, Chinese salad, and cut fruit (also a Chinese staple to round off a meal!).
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Chinese Food Spread
I also thought that the lounge went all-out with some of the details. For example, in the fridge, you could find little pitchers of Hong Kong-style lemon tea, Hong Kong-style milk tea, and soy milk. Even the beers here were of a more Asian variety than in the food hall, which had more Western options.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Drinks
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge The Nook
While the Food Hall and the Noodle Bar are very familiar to Cathay Pacific’s lounges, Cathay Pacific pioneered a new concept at The Bridge, called The Nook. This is an area that specifically serves some Chinese and Taiwanese pastry-based light bites. The area itself features wooden chairs and stools, and there’s a separate partitioned area that has restaurant-style bench seating.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge The Nook
The food selection during my visit included Taiwanese chicken gua bao, Sichuan eggplant pastry, Shanghai style sticky rice roll (which, by the way, I would love to see more of outside of Hong Kong, as it’s delicious), king mushroom salad, and red bean puff.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge The Nook Food Spread and Condiments
I’m an idiot, but I forgot to photograph my Sichuan eggplant pastry, Shanghai-style sticky rice roll, and red bean puff – all were delicious, though the Sichuan eggplant pastry was as spicy as the lady at the counter warned! The turnaround time for food at The Nook is also much faster than at the Noodle Bar, presumably as there are fewer made-to-order components.
For a feel of what the food is like, here’s a picture of a lamb bao and scallion pancake that my family had at the lounge a while back (the onigiri isn’t from that section). In all cases, we agree that the food served at The Nook is very high-quality.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge The Nook Food
There’s also a dim sum cart that’s available from 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM, 12 AM to 2 PM, and 9 PM to 11 PM. I’m not actually sure what purpose this serves, as you can get the full dim sum selection from the Noodle Bar.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge The Nook Dim Sum Cart
Finally, there’s a small selection of self-pour alcohol here, in case the bar is too far of a walk away (oh, the horror!).
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge The Nook Drinks
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Showers
Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge lounge at Hong Kong Airport has nine shower suites, which are located just past the noodle bar and relaxation area on the left side of the lounge (before The Nook).
By the entrance of the shower, you’ll find some flavoured water.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Shower Entrance
The lounge’s nine shower suites haven’t actually been renovated since their The Bridge days, though they still look well kempt, and there’s a rainforest shower option as well.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Shower Suites
Here’s the thing – due to current lounge renovations, lounge shower capacity is extremely constrained during peak times, both here and at The Pier. If you’re flying business class, I’d strongly recommend first checking out the Qantas Lounge if you’re looking to shower between 9-11 PM, as there’ll be a long waiting list at both The Bridge and The Pier (The Wing doesn’t currently operate any shower suites).
This might not be an option otherwise (e.g. if you’re connecting from business class to premium economy), in which case be ready to wait >1h for a shower room. That’s one of the longest wait times out of any hub lounge I know – even more so than with the Middle Eastern carriers such as Turkish and Qatar Airways.
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Meeting Rooms
Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge lounge has two meeting rooms on either side of the lounge, at a corner close to the entrance. These are spaces where you can have meetings or take calls, and they’re fully enclosed from the rest of the lounge (though I’m not sure if they’re bookable).
Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Meeting Room
Conclusion: Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific’s The Bridge lounge is a delight, especially if you’re looking for food and drink. The airline has gotten its lounge game absolutely nailed, and I’d certainly come early if I could to have a bite to eat and a cocktail/barista coffee at The Bridge or The Pier (or maybe even both).
However, there’s no doubt in saying that the constrained lounge capacity makes both of these lounges really crowded, especially during peak hours. That’s not much of an issue in most cases – there’s still plenty of available seating even at those times, and WiFi still works well. It’s only an issue if you need a shower (esp. if you’re connecting between longhaul flights), in which case you might face a very long wait.
As I’ve said in the other Cathay Pacific lounge reviews I wrote, once The Wing is fully renovated and The Deck becomes a business class lounge again, Cathay Pacific will have the strongest hub business class lounge network in the world.
