QRC3288

many! I guess it's just a comfort level, no real right answer here...

...I would unequivocally choose your option #2, but there are some points to bear in mind.

1.) CX650 is almost always on time or early. One of the most reliable flights in the CX network actually. Among other reasons, the inbound bird flies the SIN-HKG redeye departing 1:40am landing ~5:25am, and it's so late at night if the original plane goes tech there are spares lying around, meaning the inbound is very reliable.

Of course, just bad luck can always strike...but in terms of percentages, this one is very high of an on-time departure.

2.)**most important**understanding and comfort with the transit procedures at HKG. HKG is my home airport and I traverse it one way or another over 100 times a year, so I'd be quite comfortable with below. That said, I wouldn't advise this transfer unless you did some research before. It's very do-able, but some parts about transit at HKG aren't intuitive...I dare say, transit is one of the few "weaknesses" at HKG, primarily due to the lack of understanding / communication about the layout. It's a good layout, just it's unclear to folks and hence (unnecessarily) long lines can form.

Arrivals are downstairs, departures are upstairs. Straightforward enough.

There is only one big terminal. Aka, all arriving flights are in the same connected building as all departing flights. Even if you get a remote gate and bused in (quite rare for CX birds, but happens occasionally), you will still arrive airside in the same terminal as all departing flights. Point: it is all one big connected building. The terms "terminal 1" and "terminal 2" actually only refer to landside check-in counter locations, irrelevant for you.

All transit points bring you from arrival to departure level, aka downstairs to upstairs. All transit points allow pax with onwards boarding passes to transit from downstairs (arrivals) to upstairs (departures), after a re-screen. Depending on where you arrive, there is likely to be a transit point somewhere nearby. THIS is the key point...it means, every transit point will bring you to departures, hence give you access to every departing flight. This is also the key bottleneck, since some transit points are smaller than others.

You can use any transit point, because of the facts above....but the lines aren't equal at transit points SOMETIMES, certain transit points get overwhelmed with passengers. It's basically random and depends on arriving flights. This is not because the airport is jam packed, but rather because a number of flights happened to arrive at gates near one-another, and all pax assume / it is kinda implied you should transit there. Of course, this is not true...you can transit anywhere. But I have seen many, many times deplaning, and the transit point near us will be overflowing with transit pax, some of whom are inevitably missing connections. And yet, 100-200 meters away but unfortunately far enough to be unseen and unknown to unfamiliar pax, there is a totally empty transit point.

Your departure gate is very likely to be Gates 1-4, or Gates 16-19, aka the far eastern departure gates at HKIA, and you can do some planning in advance. The largest transit points E1 and E2 are near these gates, but depending on where you arrive there may be transit points along the way. Your arrival gate is going to be hard to predict.

If you choose this short connection, the best way to minimize transit times is be flexible if the closest transit point is busy
My recommendation would be to familiarize yourself with the HKIA layout, and if you're not download a map to review on the plane...so when you learn your arrival gate on-board ~30 minutes before landing, you can look where the closest transit points are. When you deplane, if there happens to be a line-free transit point next to your arrival gate (and you don't have a CX staff accompanying you), take it. Do not go to E1/E2, likely the recommendations on the IFE system for CX806 if indeed the gate is 1-4 or 16-19. Just to reiterate, if you see an empty transit security near your arrival gate, I would take advantage of it immediately. (you will need to be mobile, since you are forcing yourself to walk a little more with this recommendation). Although you may have a walk, this will guarantee you make your ORD connection. Alternatively, if there is a line at the closest transit point, proceed until the next transit point, or go straight to E1/E2 and transit there. Basically, you're reducing the odds of having a transit-point line using this strategy.

Sorry if it sounds complicated!

This "optionality" of the transit points is not understood by casual travelers visiting HKG once or twice, but is highly useful for minimizing your connection time.


fair, i'm generally in this camp too. although my familiarity with CX and HKG, and HKG's all-around great design, mean this is the one situation I would be happy to do it and not sweat too much.

yes, it's quite common for CX to allow tight connecting pax to sit up front for landing. and if seats aren't available, they will tell you to basically push up through the front and permit you to cross the curtain to deplane with biz pax.

yea agree. the "tricky" aspect is definitely related to transfer security and understanding the airport.