Hong Kong International Airport

There is something vibrant and unique to every community that somehow all airports squelch out.
Where are you?
Doesn’t matter. Apparently it’s a foreign country to me. Everybody is depressed. The restaurants seem like an oasis merely because you’ve been force-​fed horrible airline tripe for the past 15 hours.
This airport for its size didn’t have the cast plethora of American fast food. It had a McDonald’s. My daughters are happy. I am not.
We had an odd situation. We had a 19 hour layover. I repeat NINETEEN HOUR LAYOVER.
I had went for over 40 hours without a wink of sleep. I will sleep on an airport bench.
Wrong!
Out of the hundreds of airport benches they all had armrests on every single seat thus making it impossible to stretch out and sleep.
Wrong! I’m short and resourceful. I can sleep in a shoe box.
Out of the hundreds of seats only a few didn’t have double armrests. All 5 were occupied by sleeping members of my family. WE ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR 19 HOURS.
We spent the night in the airport. Very clean. The people were so nice.
There was a lady that made a bed on the floor near my armrest-​less couch I was sleeping on. My wife insisted she was homeless. She wasn’t bothering me. I careth not.
The restrooms were extremely clean. They stunk because Asians are like Kentuckians and they think they can get a quick smoke in the bathroom and nobody will be none the wiser. I’d rather smell shit than cigarettes and cheap cologne.

About 90% of the time airport food taste like leftover garbage, so like ass. It’s not hard to choose between ass or ass, but it is hard when you have a plethora of delicious options.
The food court at this airport is AWESOME! I plan to have my layovers when traveling to Asia in Hong Kong whenever possible.
When you’re traveling 18 plus hours from the US, all you want is a tasty hot meal after eating hours of airplane gunk. I found the wonderful aromas of wonton soups, dim sum, roasted goose, Popeyes, McDonald’s, bubble teas, fancy pants pizza, spaghetti, it’s just keep going.
I pretty much ate a little bit of everything because I believe in pigging out while on vacation… and sometimes at home alone. I have no complaints on the food. The roasted goose over rice was my favorite.
This airport is too gigantic. It’s set up oddly creating some inconveniences. There’s only this one big food court and it’s possible depending on where your gate is that you’re walking a mile plus back and forth.
The bathroom locations are terrible. It’s in the middle of long stretches of moving walkways. Why the hell would they set it up like that?! You have to back track when using the restroom. Crazy. Definitely not designed for lazy Americans like myself.
They need large charging stations. For an airport this size I would expect more lounges dedicated for this. They should checkout the Japan airport and model after them.
Everything was clean though. There were workers everywhere constantly cleaning. That’s a huge plus.

There are so much flexibility with the HK airport and it is so much more structurally organized than LAX. In terms of driving to the HK airport itself, you’re never bound to hit any traffic unless there was some kind of accident. Even so, there are other ways of transportation in and out of HK airport like the train or you can even ride a bus which is super cheap. They have so many different bus stops for different locations and vice versa and it only cost a little more than a dollar. It might not be super fast but it sure as hell useful. You just see people in and out of the airport so easily and you never ever feel like your life is in danger (maybe a slight exaggeration but you don’t ever feel like you are gonna get into a car crash).
Then there is the immigration. It’s fast and easy. If you happen to have a HK ID, you breeze past immigration like nothing which is awesome. All you need to do insert HK ID, then put your thumb for fingerprint in the machine and its over. There are a slight variation as some people doesn’t really have faded fingerprints so they might have to do the person to person interaction but even so, it sure as hell 20x faster than what you have to go through in LAX. I can’t complain enough about LAX.
With that said, they have a lot of shops and a lot of restaurant you can eat before you enter and after you enter the terminals. Of course, all the prices are all jacked up like any other airport but everything is just so much better.

I’ve never loved an airport until now, and I’ve been around the world a time or two!
Free wifi everywhere!
The tiles are all soooo shiny, and there’s no fascade of «super gorgeous international terminal so we look great to everyone else» vs «super shitty domestic terminal» situation.
T1 and T2 are hooked together, so no transport necessary between them. Consult bus charts for cheap transportation.
Tons of delicious restaurants, INCLUDING even a Michelin star restaurant in Terminal 2?!
This airport is still so affordable, too. You can swing by a 7 Eleven and pay normal people prices, and restaurants are affordable also. Hell, get you a whole goose. It’s hanging in the window anyway at one of the restaurants.
The only bad thing about this airport? You don’t get a damn passport stamp when you fly in here. Thanks, China.

Imho this is one of the best airports in the world.
Although it may seem far away from downtown Hong Kong it is easy to reach. Take the airport express train from Kowloon station located at ICC or from the central station which is located at the IFC. It takes around 15 — 20 minutes to get to the airport. In addition you can already check in at both airport express station. This is really convenient.
Even checking in at the airport is quick and efficient, there are a lot of counters as well as auto machines.
Going through security is normally fast as they open enough lines to cope with the passengers. Even during school holidays waiting time is max 15 minutes.
Walking to the gates takes around 5 — 10 minutes, if you’re further away you will take the people’s mover which departs every 2 — 3 minutes.
In general the airport is well organized, signs are clear, it’s clean, the staff is competent and friendly.
Shopping and eating is great with a good selection before and after security.
Chep Lap Kok has opened for almost 18 years now and with increasing passenger numbers they are expanding the airport step by step. They are discussing now to add a runway which is badly needed.

Perfect place for my 3-​hour layover before returning to Los Angeles! Landed late at night around 9:30pm and to my surprise almost everything was still opened (high-​end shops, food court, market). The airport was extremely clean and had a great selection of food (Popeyes, McDonalds, Pizza, Asian food, etc).
In order to transfer to my next flight, I had to go through 2 additional TSA Security Check Points. The lady who checked me the first time took my mini 9 cm make-​up scissors away, which surprised me. To my understanding, «scissors are permitted as long as the blades do not exceed four inches», but maybe the rules are different in Hong Kong.
** Free Wi-​fi. YAYYY **

** Specifically about the McDonald’s **
Reaching the airport super early usually means nothing much is open except McDonald’s! Not really that hungry but wanting something to drink, the McDonald’s splits into two — one is McCafe, where you purchase hand-​crafted beverages like lattes and treats like swiss roll cakes, croissants, macarons while the other is your typical McDonald’s with their food options like Big Breakfast, hashbrowns, etc.
When lining up for McCafe, they also sell Waffles, and other treats like Marshmallow Latte?! Whaaaaaa… It sounded sweet though.
I’ve actually seen via Instagram that this McDonald’s sold macarons and it got me intrigued because Canada McDonald’s don’t sell macarons — or any sweets besides cookies… So I wanted to try some!
So I decided to try two macarons — crème brûlée & coffee — and gotten myself an iced green tea latte and coffee for my sister.
First of all, let me just say, you can never go wrong with crème brûlée macarons… It always tastes sooooooo good, no matter where.
Both macaron flavours were good, not overly sweet, but I found them extremely chewy? Like a chewy chocolate chip cookie type of chewy. Found that odd, perhaps it was on the shelf a little too long? But still enjoyed it. Really liked the iced green tea latte, was refreshing to have a «real» drink after getting off the airplane!
They accept Hong Kong dollars and US dollars. If you give USD, expect the change to be in HKD because they apparently do not have USD change. & With the exchange rate, it gets a bit confusing — so ask for the receipt!

HUGE. Free wifi. Fast easy TSA checks and passport screening.
Good shopping and food options. I miss HK already!

HKG is still my favorite airport to go to and I would definitely be fine with a long layover here, but it’s got a couple of blemishes due to its «age».
I don’t mind coming to the airport super early, even though I really don’t have to. Check-​in, immigration, and security are generally without hassle or trouble. That gives me more time to go to shops and restaurants before or after security. I can load up on HK products (like candy) before my flight home.
There are so many shops to wander into that you’ll never find yourself bored. Actually, I like to just walk around the gates, seeing all the different airlines that don’t go to the States, and the destinations that don’t have direct flights from here.
The food here is actually appealing and not a ripoff, unlike most places in the States. I generally pick from the food court, but there are a wide range of restaurants available. The pre-​security spots are just as good as the ones after.
Transportation to the city are various and generally convenient. The facilities at the airport are spotless and the areas are bright. Wifi is pretty decent here. The only technology age «blemish» I can spot here is that there aren’t a whole lot of charging stations and the ones that exist weren’t really near the seats.

#550
I have been to this airport many times since I first visited Hong Kong as a teenager, and after going to many airports in the USA, Canada, Europe, China and Australia, this airport remains the best airport I have been to so far. When I arrive at this airport, I feel pretty good, even after an extremely long and rough flight. When I depart from this airport, I don’t really feel that great, unless I am going to a place like Sydney or… San Francisco?
The airport is really clean and very efficient. I have never been to an airport with bathrooms so clean until coming to this airport. I have never been to an airport with fast wi-​fi until coming to this airport. I have never been to an airport with great ground staff until coming to this airport. One example was when I lost my iPod and the ground staff was able to find it, and brought it back to me. Going through immigration was pretty quick. Recently and unfortunately, they do not stamp passports, which really sucks, because it was nice to have a Hong Kong stamp on a passport.
The food selections are pretty good, I only have been to 大家樂 (Dai Ga Lok, Café de Coral) which is a popular fast food place in Hong Kong. If you have never been to Hong Kong before, I would recommend getting at least one meal from that chain to see why it’s so popular, and there’s definitely no 大家樂 in the USA.
If you are stopping in Hong Kong for a layover, and you have never been to Hong Kong before, I would strongly recommend allowing 8+ hour layover, so you can jump on the Airport Express train and grab some 點心/​飲茶 (dim sum/​yum cha) and enjoying a spectacular view of the skyline by the harbour. It’s about 30 minutes, and about $ 100 HKD.
Overall, this is the best airport I have been to and will always be my favourite airport, unless Seoul or Singapore tries to steal my heart. I really hope airports in the USA learn from this airport, and this airport has set the standard on what a great airport should be. This airport is one of the many reasons why I love Hong Kong.

Like most international airports it’s a maze of confusion to a traveler on a layover making connections to flights. Fortunately employees are very helpful and go out of their way to help you. It helps that signage is clear with most everything written in Chinese and English. Getting through security is a breeze, much easier than most other airports. They are thorough but very efficient.
I don’t know if it was just good timing or not but I had the need for a bathroom after suppressing urges on the airplane. I was amazed at how clean all the toilets were. There was a man cleaning and I noticed after I had finished he immediately went to clean the stall. I visited another restroom a couple hours later and again everything was sparkling clean. Very impressive.
The airport is very clean and really beautiful with many shops and restaurants along with all the services one would expect. It makes you feel like you’re in an upscale shopping mall rather than an airport. The airport offers honest to goodness free wi-​fi with no gimmicks. It’s limited to two hours but that should be more than enough for most people. If it isn’t enough for you they even allow you to log in a second time for two more hours. When I wasn’t on wi-​fi I had a solid LTE signal with my Project Fi service from Google so I had all the coverage I needed. Good job, Hong Kong.

I have to agree with a lot of Unilocalers here: Best Airport Ever!!!
However I think I might be a little bias, considering I loved everything about Hong Kong.
Let start stating the obvious: it’s HUGE, it’s busy, and design wise beautiful.
As a Standby traveller the first 2 characteristics can be a bit of a pain. Mostly because it means I get my boarding pass at the last possible minute and have to run freaking miles to get to my gate in time and not lose my flight.
But both customs and immigration were a breeze, and had more than enough time to do it all without running that much.
Something I particularly LOVED about the Airport is how easy is to get from it to anywhere in Hong Kong. You have both train and bus options to go down town.
110HK dollars by MRT or 44HK dollar by bus to the main island. We were on a budget so we went with the bus.
Find the train station right outside and buy/​lease an octopus card for the public transport.
All for today! Love you HK, see you soon I hope!

While the airport itself is quite nice and clean, I had an incident happen to me at the airport that I do not want to happen to anyone else. At the Relaxation Corner spa near Gate 23, I was inappropriately groped and touched by my masseuse.
Please be careful if you are getting a massage there. If any member of the HK Airport staff is reading this — I sincerely hope that the safety and well-​being of no other guest is compromised in this airport.

Riesenflughafen, aber da muss man durch. Wenn man hier einige Zeit verbringen muss: hier gibts es etliche Möglichkeiten shoppen zu gehen! Aber, habt bloß bequeme Schuhe an, hier muss man ganz schön latschen… als wir bei den Arrivals rausgekommen sind, gab es direkt einen Schalter, wo wir Tickets für den Airportexpress kaufen konnten ($ 18 return), der in ca. 25 Minuten die Innenstadt (HongKong Station) erreicht.
Und, was ich richtig super finde: in der HongKong Station kann man am Abreisetag auch schon einchecken und seine Koffer dalassen. Ich kann das nur empfehlen, auch wenn man direkt im Anschluss zum Flughafen fährt– die Schlangen war beide Mal nicht existent und man hat den großen Vorteil, dass man auf den langen Wegen zum Airport Checkin nicht die ganze Zeit seinen Koffer mitschleppen muss. Allerdings braucht man wohl für den City Check In ein Ticket für den Airport Express (es gibt auch Busse), da man nur mit dem Ticket zum c/​i Schalter gelangt, aber da kann ich mich auch irren.
Tipp: Besorg dir am Bestern gleich eine Octopus Karte, da ist direkt ein Guthaben drauf, dass du benutzen kannst für UBahn und Busfahrten, aber auch in Supermärkten und Kiosks. Da spart man sich nämlivh das elende Rückgeld. Am Ende einfach abgeben und restliches Geld minus einer Bearbeitungsgebühr auszahlen lassen.

Hong Kong residence constantly says how great this airport is and how new and nice it is. To me I have experience better. Its a bit disorganized and how I see it is that to walk to the gate can be a horrible experience. So I was suppose to enter gate 46 and from the departure area to the Gate, I walked for a good 45 mins and this include using the automatic walkway. Not to mention; lots of flights were delayed because of landing and are allowed to depart. So yes mine was delayed for 2 hours total.
I have to say its big but not designed in a smart way to save space. As well, they sells goods that are not even permitted to enter in other countries like Canada.
The airport is crazy busy.

You can find various charging points around the airport! My flight is delayed over an hour and I’ve been playing with my iPhone all day so it’s useful to use! At other airports I find they are used up by everyone else but this one has availability of up to 24 devices!
Shame there are no chairs nearby so I can sit and wait. But I have seen other people just leave their devices and one iPhone isn’t even locked! Unless the screensaver is same as her homescreen!

HK airport is hugeeee, especially with the high roof structures, that makes it seem even bigger. Signs are obvious so navigating around the airport is easy (super important in my opinion!).
Having an early flight usually means only McDs is the only food place in the food court that is open! Be sure to get there early because the line can get pretty long… Slowly though, the other food stores open starting from 7AM ish.
The duty free stores here catered more towards adults than kids — only major kid store was the Disney store. Coffee here cost $ 10 CAD and it was pretty tiny :(, but what can you expect from an airport righttt?
Carts are easy to use (in Singapore, you’d have to push the handle down to move it) and wifi is sooooo easy to connect to (as compared to Singapore’s as well)

The Hong Kong airport, particularly the Cathay Business Lounge is the best and most luxe airport lounge I’ve been to. The LAX version is a 2 star.
It’s Double storied with 8 different spaces to relax. My fave is the Marble bar, coffee bar and Noodle bar where the food is made hot to order. The food is international and offered on both floors. Champagne at the bar is complimentary Moët and Veuve. Where else does that happen?
The Business lounge showers are also nice amazing after or before a long flight! Reasonable size chamber with private shower, blow drier and Jurlique toiletries.

My favorite airport so far in my traveling career (hobby ahem).
+ The Visitor’s lines for customs moves fast! The area is organized and well staffed. If you’re missing a piece of information on the Arrivals card, there is a side exit where you can leave the line and then return to your spot on the line! (Might not be between the same people but you re-​enter where you left.)
+ Lots of restaurants and shops! It’s like a spacious shopping mall for you to peruse while waiting for your flight. Few hours early? No problem! However, at late nights, everything except for the McDonald’s (and maybe one more restaurant) is closed. Do not come hungry if you have a late night or early morning flight!
+ Easy to navigate. Signs are everywhere. There is English. Their shuttle trains between terminals/​gates come every 2 minutes.
+ Free carts and free wifi!
+ They help you hail a taxi cab once you exit the airport. Seriously, this airport has the most helpful staff and they are everywhere!

Cold… both the temperature and the staff.

Great airport, and very modern. There’s a lot to do at the airport (non-​restricted) areas where you can just explore if you want to arrive well before your flight or even after your flight.
Terminal 1 and 2 are like shopping malls, if you have 2 – 3 hours to spare, you can definitely pass your time here. The staff here are friendly and helpful.
The airport is convenient to get to through the MTR or by taxi. If you’re traveling by yourself MTR is probably the better and cheaper option, but if you’re traveling with 1 or more other people, it might be more convenient and cheaper to take the taxi.
I spent about 8 hours at the airport prior to my flight and the restaurants surely did not disappoint and helped pass the time so much quicker. All of them have a menu in the front, so stop on by and take a look and try it out.
Best of all, there are a lot of carts all over the place so you can wheel your luggage a lot easier.

Hong Kong airport is by far the best airport ever. Spacious and modern. Very easy to navigate. We took a shuttle train from one terminal to the other with no hassle. Superb shops and comfy waiting areas. Bonus = Free WIFI!

Best airport ever!!! Amaaaaaazing architecture and interior design. Nice and clean, updated, lots of stores and restaurants. Seriously, you can spend a whole day shopping here (after security).
Free WiFi, efficient security check, easy parking, convenient public transportation (taxi, airport express and bus).
Friendly airport staff, and they speak fluent English (possibly with an accent).
I love HKG!

Hong Kong International Airport
The airport is fairly simple to navigate, Terminal 1 is the main terminal and Terminal 2 is all the budget airlines. If manage to work that out you are basically set, so assume cheap airlines fly from T2…
Note the exceptions are Scoot and Dragonair which also fly out of Terminal 1.
There are a number of transport options to HKG, the first time I passed through on my trip I stayed at the nearby Novotel hotel so used the shuttle bus. When I travelled back on my way home I stay at Harbour Grand Hong Kong so took the Airport Express which was slightly more expensive than other options was just 24 minutes to Central station. The MTR was a good option and when you are taking it back to the airport there is a free in-​town checkin service at Hong Kong and Kowloon stations if between 90 minutes and 24 hours ahead of your scheduled departure time.
If your airline doesn’t offer in-​town checkin or you decide to take your luggage with you the MTR transit staff are really helpful and have a large number of free luggage trollies lined up and ready for travellers exiting the train at HKG airport. You can basically wheel your luggage via trollies from where the Taxi dropped you off at Hong Kong station to where you drop your bags at the checkin counter.
The checkin process at HKG is painless and quick but I would advise getting there a bit earlier as the customs lines are often quite slow after you pass through security.
There are plenty of places to eat and shop once you pass through customs so don’t panic if you have forgotten to buy something nice to take home. A word of warning if you are travelling to Australia or the USA you cannot buy any duty-​free alochol as they don’t allow you to carry on liquids. Don’t do it they will confiscate it and you won’t get your money back!
The airport can be a bit confusing so leave a little bit of time between when you finish shopping and boarding begins.

HK Int’l airport is one of top 10 busiest airports in the world. Obviously, you can see how busy everywhere in terminal, shuttle train and even washroom.
You will able to find the directory/​map easily. Also, the information centre and staffs are very helpful too.
If you’re shopaholic, you would arrive few hours before your flight departure and continue to shop. It has so many DFS and luxury brand shops.

Hong Kong airport is huge and airy! It’s kinda represents what a modern airport looks like. Check in counters are friendly and efficient.
Then comes the departure hall which is usually a long line of crowds. It may look a little crowded and intimidating at first but the crowds pass fairly quickly. Another long line to chop your passports, which is a common sight, but after that it’s like instead of entering into a airport, you enter into a shopping mall! Two stores of dining and shopping options!
What might be confusing to me, as I don’t visit HK very often is that you have to take the escalator down to catch your plane. And both levels are like crowded with people shopping and all. Might make you a little disoriented and nervous.
One thing to note about HK airports is that try to come in as early as you can, as the queues can be rather long. Compared to a comparable Airport in a city like Shanghai or Bangkok, I feel that Shanghai and Bangkok has a more efficient system.

This place is HUGE. It’s appropriate for the busy-​ness of the airport and the number of people running about, but is almost too big.
When I arrived, the spaces to move through for immigration and customs were so large, it was tricky to figure out where to go once I finished each step. There weren’t a ton of people (well, apart from waiting in line for immigration which took 15 minutes) so that wasn’t the problem. Just huge rooms without the clearest indication of where to go next.
Upon leaving (after I flew in), I had planned to find a bus to take to town and between the MRT, busses, and Bus to Mainland China, it was confusing. Again, so many large spaces with lots of walking meant that missing even one sign could mean quite a long detour, then backtracking. I did that more than once.
Upon flying out, I arrived by MRT and it was a breeze. Though the reader board indicated that my airline was at a certain letter counter but that wasn’t accurate, I had to hunt around to find where to check in. Once checked in, again, it was not very clear where to go to pass through security. There are only two large doorways, but they are at the ends of the hall and not that clearly marked. Plus there was no indication, based on my flight/​airline, if a particular doorway would be best. I went through one while I should have gone through the other… just lots more walking.
I was flying First Class and there was no separate screening, this was a disappointment, the lines weren’t short. Then immigration, same thing, long lines. After this we were dumped into the Mall. A huge space with lots and lots of shops on two floors. My gate was on the lower floor (as I suspect most are) and it was a long walk through another huge shopping mall. I was surprised how unclear the signage was and how long it took to find things at this airport.

What a relatively easy airport to navigate!
When we arrived in Hong Kong airport from Tokyo we just followed the crowd as it looked like people knew where we were going. Customs was all good and then it came time to pick up our checked in luggage. Big problem for us here: we had people waiting on us for dinner reservations and our bags were DELAYED! I’ve never heard of it before. Our plane flew in on-​time but there must have been several airplanes landing in at the same time. It took about 45 minutes for the first bag to even come out on the carousal. Kind of upsetting there as we would never expect our bags to be delayed.
When we finally got our luggage, we got out and was expected to meet the family maid to get us to our destination with taxi van’s waiting for us. There are two exit doors when you leave the baggage carousals. Just a tip to make sure to tell who you’re meeting to mention which one you should be exiting from!
We had a pretty great experience coming back to Hong Kong airport and flying outbound. The MTR was super duper easy to use and was fast. Lots of food options in the food court on the international side. Comfortable seating in the terminals. Great experience departing Hong Kong. Arriving, good but stupid that baggage was so delayed coming out.

Visiting an airport like this one makes you feel as though we live in a third world country in the US, especially when my local airport is Newark International.
First, the architecture. The design is absolutely magnificent. Bright, clean lines, spacious.
Secondly, the food options are some of the best I have ever had in an airport, both sit down and take away. They aren’t your typical chain or «celebrachef» restaurant but really great places to eat. My husband and I ate at a specialty smoked salmon/​caviar restaurant where we had the best scrambled eggs of our lives with smoked salmon and a cup of cappuccino. It was also the most expensive breakfast we ever eaten but after a very long flight with an extended layover, it was worth it. There are also places to get local udon, sandwiches, and any other you can possibly imagine.
Thirdly, the shopping. I am not a shopper but there is every store here. And an IMAX theatre. And you can sample whisky, scotch and, cognac… at 7:00 am after a long flight. (no, I don’t have a drinking problem.)
Most importantly, seating areas at the gates are comfortable and civilized. They are well marked with flight information (you can see them from a distance). There is adequate seating for all passengers. There are charging stations as far as the eye can see. Restrooms are always nearby and clean. And there are water stations that dispense hot and cold water.
This is my favorite airport. Hands down. I would look for a reason to make a connection with a layover just to visit again.

This airport is almost like a shopping mall that just so happens to have planes coming and going from it. There are tons and tons of stores here. Big name brand shops are everywhere. Most of the people traveling here are actually pushing carts filled with items that they bought while waiting on their flights. It really is a sight to see. I found it humorous that one of the main items people were buying and walking with were M&Ms. There is a huge M&M store here and people use it. I guess its a great gift to take home to family and friends.
It is very easy to find what you are looking for. The whole place is open and bright. They do have free wifi while you wait.
There are tons of food/​drink options here as well.
One thing I didn’t like about this place was that the gates you are needing to go to don’t get displayed until the last few minutes. It may have been just my specific flights the few times I traveled here, but it really bothered me. I like to get to my gate early and then walk around, but not knowing your gate until last minute kind of sucks.

Amazing airport!!! Love that it is super modern, huge, clean, and bright.
My favourite part by far was walking through immigration, seeing Gate 20, and walking past each gate up to gate 90, all in 2 straight lines! Shows the sheer size of the terminal, and I get my daily exercise and stretching in, in one airport. I also liked looking at the destinations of each gate and observing the travellers at each gate, looking for a common feature of travellers going to a particular destination. This should be called an airport zoo!
HKIA places a great emphasis on respiratory infections, and the measures put in are hilarious. There are staff waiting at corners with thermometers, monitoring the passengers passing by (much like police random breath testers /​highway patrol), and several contained «temperature check» counters. When you hear the announcement about «recent cases of bird flu and Middle East virus» and announcements telling passengers to «refrain from being in contact with poultry while travelling, do not touch birds», you know you’re in HKIA!
Lots of mostly designer stores. For those who had deliberated over a splurge purchase and had decided (wrongly) against it and are now regretting it at the airport, here is your chance to get your hands on the bag /​shoes /​*insert other designer item*.
HKIA and Singapore Changi Airport are in my books, the best airports in the world!

This is a REALLY nice airport. It’s huge, clean, and efficient. There’s free WiFi (YES!) and lots of fun shops to entertain you. My favorite shops were definitely the Hong Kong Disneyland stores (there were two). Great stops if you forgot souvenirs!
Everything is labeled in Chinese AND English, so it was easy to find our away around. On our way out of Hong Kong, we were a bit confused as to where we needed to go to check in our luggage, but we found someone with the airlines and they were very helpful.
Also, flights to and from HKG from North America were cheaper than other areas in Asia, so it was perfect to connect here.

Super Slow Luggage Service! Bei unserem letzten Aufenthalt in Pjöngyang hatten wir unser Gepäck 3x so schnell wie bei diesem Schnarch-​Airport. 1 Stunde und 15 Minuten mussten wir auf unsere Koffer warten, und das — obwohl wir Priority Bag Tags hatten — ein Skandal! Die Immigration lief hingegen, trozt Riesenschlangen — effizient (dafür auch einen Extra-​Punkt). Aber was nützt einem das, wenn das LH Gepäck dann danach ewig auf sich warten lässt!

Hong Kong Airport is pretty awesome to fly in/​out of. It’s a massive place with tons to do, depending on where you’re located. Overall, highlights would be:
+ Fast and efficient immigrations/​customs
+ Vast assortment of restaurants, bars, and shopping in T1
+ A whole terminal (T2) dedicated to even more restaurants and shopping (note: cannot be accessed once you pass through immigrations)
+ A variety of options for transportation to/​from the city (MTR, bus, taxi)
+ Wi-​fi everywhere!
There are definitely worse places to kill time on a lay-​over (or waiting for a flight).

Clean, free wifi, spacious, easy to navigate. There are plenty of charging ports (USB as well) and bathrooms. Lots of store and food options. Lines can be lengthy, but I find that the food service workers work fast enough. SO MUCH SHOPPING. You will ogle over all the selections if you are anything like me.
Asking questions has a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ success rate. I’ve never had difficulty locating gates/​terminals/​bathrooms/​etc. Currensy exchanges are frequent throughout as well. First times here were transfers. Going through customs took less than 5 minutes. Although I did have my bag thoroughly hand checked, the agents did a decent job of repacking my belongings.
HKG is one of the most luxurious and aesthetically pleasing airports I’ve traveled through.

PUBLIC TRANSIT: there’s a link to the MTR, Hong Kong’s metro system, from the airport into the City. I didn’t take that, but a Citylink bus. There are several buses that leave from the airport into the City. If you’re going to take public transit while in HK, get an Octopus card — it’s like a Clipper card. You have to give $ 150HKD, which includes $ 50HKD deposit and $ 100HKD cash balance. You scan the card on buses and the metro and it automatically deducts the fare. No fussing with dollars or coins. You can reload money at machines at metro stations. You can also use the Octopus at 7−11s and other places that take it. After you’re done, return it to a transit customer service desk. They refund you the any remaining balance plus the deposit, but they charge you a $ 9 handling fee (so you really only get $ 41 back plus your cash balance). But the Octopus is super convenient.
CONCESSIONS: so I flew out of here really late at night, so unfortunately almost everything was closed, so I can’t really accurately evaluate the shops. Some eateries were open pose-​security, like McDonald’s and done Japanese curry place and Starbucks. Pre-​security, 7 – 11 was open and everyone was buying late dinner there and eating it there. All the Koreans were eating kimbap rolls (these were gross) and shin ramen (they provide hot water and microwaves). They should think about keeping at least one gift shop open — I can’t buy any gifts for people now!
OTHER: There are ATMs and money exchangers (though this guy wasn’t very friendly). FREE WI-​FI! Public art is pretty cool –I liked the horses at T2 arrivals hall. And post-​security there is a Buddha made of canned food that was done by airport employees for charity.
Overall it seems like a nice airport. It’s certainly clean. But there’s nothing to do when you’re on a red eye flight.

HKG offers pretty much everything you want/​need/​expect from an airport:
— Quick security lines (even though you need to go through separate security and passport control)
— Quick customs and immigration lines
— Easy public transport access — just 24 minute train ride to Central Hong Kong via the Airport Express for HKD100
— Free WiFi
— Tons of food options from local Hong Kong favorites like Tsui Wah, Asian (but non-​Chinese) food like Ajisen Ramen, and plenty of Western staples such as McDonald’s, Delifrance, Pizza Express, and even Popeye’s fried chicken.
— A dizzying assortment of shops — not just your standards like Relay and DFS, but tons of high end retailers like Harrod’s, Burberry, Coach, and Chanel. HKG even has an outlet of The Magic of Hong Kong Disneyland (basically the Hong Kong version of the Disney Store) for a last minute souvenir for the kids or Disneyphiles at home. It’s like being in a high end mall while you wait for your flight.