If you are in HKG departure area, they do not simply escort you to the arrival level where all the immigration counters are.

They escort you to a special immigration office where you have to wait to be interviewed by an immigration officer.
That happened to me once when a flight to a three-times-a-week destination was delayed by 2h,then another 2h, then again with no other rerouting possible that late evening and my business purpose missed..I cancelled the flight, waited to be escorted, waited another half hour at the immigrations special zone (I am permanent resident) to be cleared.

I don’t mean merely the transit area. I mean walking into the holding area, past gate security.

Oh got it. Pretty sure I've done this once as there's no toilet in the gate area. But it was a long time ago so not sure if there's new policy.

i am surprised thos topic attracted 48 responsed in 24hours.

i have done exit from Lounge on IRROPS where i was doing HKG-tPE-HKG conneting to XXX next day and typhoon struct. they allowed me to dump TPE-HKG first segment and use HKG-XXX thus i forfeit the HKG-TPE leg, exited the lounge with CX escort having to wait 20min or so for escort. IRROPS was good enough of reason but i doubt u can do this for simple "wanted to use departure lounge". But CX agent is.also wrong to say you need to cancel the ticket to exit, this is just one of those lies they make to shut you up as moost would give up

Easily doable at various airports. It may require going through immigration but that should be easy enough for holders of most passports. I remember being asked by the immigration officer when leaving the non-Schengen secure area at HEL how long I was going to stay in the EU - to his amusement (and Finns are not easily amused) I said probably about 10 minutes because I needed to buy something from the Moomin shop for my daughter. I'm sure this sort of thing must happen dozens of times every day, if not more. Not necessarily just for Moomin reasons of course.

There's no issue with leaving the secure gate areas at KUL/SIN (most pressingly for the loo!) but the problem is that you'll have to queue up through security again to get back in.

Once you're in the general airside transit area, I don't see why you can't just wander in and out through immigration, especially since holders of certain passports can now use the automated immigration channels in both Malaysia and Singapore.

Being based in HK, I am interested by your experience .for future flight problems..
My understanding is that you/CX cancelled your HKG-TPE, hence that qualifies as cancellation. In my case (non-stop HKG-YUS on MU), the flight was not cancelled but delayed for many hours. I had to cancel the ticket to get an escort. Actually,MU refunded me in a couple of days with no fee.
Of course, there could be emergency reasons too (health condition, emergency family matters in HK,..). But the OP had none of these emergency reasons, so I think that the CX agent was not lying when he told the OP that you need to cancel the ticket if you want to exit.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hong...l#post36081525

I do find this general discussion interesting, but it is of course serious. Under the Aviation Security Regulation (which is put in place under the Aviation Security Ordinance) , it is an offence to enter into the restricted area of HKIA unless you have a permit. There is an exemption for a bona fide air passenger. There are procedures in place for bona fide passengers to exit (as noted in this thread - basically with an escort) if there are flight changes etc..

Even if someone has a boarding pass, if they enter a restricted area without the intention to board (i.e. to use a lounge and then exit), then that person would probably not be seen as a bona fide passenger. If they enter with an intention to board but cannot because of a flight cancellation or other emergency, then they would have been a bona fide passenger when they entered and an escort appointed by the relevant airline can help. In other words, from a legal perspective, they should have a pretty good reason to leave, other than to go sightseeing or visit friends.

Arrivals and departures are both restricted area https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/...1202080367.htm

"Under sections 4 and 5 of the Aviation Security Regulation, any person who enters an airport restricted area shall have a valid permit unless he/she is an air-crew member, a passenger entering the area for the purpose of embarking on/disembarking an aircraft, or being escorted by a person authorised by the Airport Authority."

You can certainly do it in ZRH, if you want noch mehr Heidi und die alpenhörner!

Confession time - I did once abuse the Singapore system. Bought a very cheap RT ticket, checked in. Met someone who was in transit to pick up some things that my wife really needed. Then ‘fell asleep’ (was a midnight flight) to miss the flight. Made a bit of a fuss at the airline counter ‘what do you mean I can’t rebook for free’, and the RT ticket to make it less obvious what I was doing. Got away with it, but I knew it was illegal

Good that you're not chasing a pop star.

This is the legislaton? https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap494A

4. Prohibition of entry, etc., of restricted area without permit
Subject to this Regulation, no person shall enter or remain in a restricted area unless he has on his person a valid permit issued to him in respect of that restricted area or is being escorted by a permit holder who is authorized by the issuing authority to escort persons into such area.
5. Exemption for bona fide passengers and air-crews
(1) Subject to this section, the provisions of section 4 shall not apply to—
(a) any bona fide air-crew member or bona fide air passenger who is in the course of passage through any immigration control or aircraft boarding area or an area set aside for the purposes of the Customs and Excise Service, which is within a restricted area—
(i) having disembarked from an aircraft; or
(ii) for the purpose of embarking upon an aircraft of which he is an air-crew member or air passenger;
(b) any bona fide air passenger awaiting an onward flight in any area reserved for transit or transfer passengers which is within a restricted area.

Alright, so OP was exempted from 4.'s "no person shall enter or remain in a restricted area" because they were an 5.1.B "bona fide air passenger awaiting an onward flight" (they did not want to not take the flight). OP then didn't want to continue waiting airside, so then 5.2.B is not longer true, so it jumps back to 4's "no person shall enter or remain in a restricted area". So OP followed the law to the dot, and asked to not remain/and be let out.
Note 5.1.B said "awaiting", whilst OP was drinking champagne in CX Flounge, were they not waiting for their flight?

Meanwhile, let's look at 5.1.A "bona fide air passenger who is in the course of passage" and 5.1.A.2 " for the purpose of embarking upon an aircraft".
Therefore, for those FTers who are throwing the book at OP, please be informed that when ex-HKIA, thou shall head directly to the aircraft, with no deviations to the lounge.

Thank you.

Yes

Btw, I wasn’t throwing the book at OP and I really hope my post is not seen or taken that way. He or she just kindly pointed out, as a warning to others, that you can get stuck if you enter the departure area and wish to leave without a good reason. This topic does come up from time to time and I was just pointing out that there is a legal basis for not being in a restricted area hence a reluctance on occasions for airlines to provide an escort.

“Bona fide passenger” is open to interpretation probably based on prevailing circumstances. That is possibly deliberate given that the exemption is not for someone “with a valid boarding pass”. I doubt that anyone would be prosecuted for using a lounge even if they intended to exit, unless things escalated if someone demanded an escort and got very difficult if the demand were denied. If that were to happen, someone claiming to be a “bona fide passenger” could find himself on the back foot.

The Singapore sign saying this is an “arrestable offense” is very direct but it probably reflects the same position as Hong Kong.