Originally Posted by
garykung
Before all of you jump to the conclusion, it is time to read the HKG's bylaw.
Per Section 20 - Loitering:
In explaning, the Court of Final Appeal mentions:
The purpose of the immigration hall area is obviously clear based on the facilities in the area - Duty free, immigration, transfer, etc. But it is definitely not designed as a waiting area for "waiting for your relatives" purposes as there is a Meeters & Greeters Hall outside the restricted area.
While OP can take a coffee, shop for duty-free, etc. to make the waiting legitimate, other than that simply waiting alone can in fact be interpreted as loitering.
Oh for crying out loud. OP, you can ignore this.
For anyone who's curious, the case
garykung excavated from the bowels of the internet concerns a taxi driver who was arrested for illegally touting on the airport grounds. I'm not a lawyer, but my cursory reading is that the case ruled that the airport authority's right to regulate activities on the airport site outweigh whatever general freedom of movement the driver might otherwise have. It takes a particular kind of internet-bulletin-board pedantry to argue that waiting for an arriving friend in the arrivals area, with or without a coffee in hand, falls outside the scope of "ordinary and legitimate purposes connected with the use of the Airport." Especially since airport management conveniently provides amenities such as a cafe to facilitate this type of waiting.