It could also be that he/she had no idea and went through transfer by mistake. I had done it many years ago when I first landed in HKG. I did not have lounge access, tho.

what if when I'm already in the departure area and i need to cancel or change my trip? just got stuck in the airport like the movie "terminal"?

If you cancel your trip, of course they will figure out a way to get rid of you. However, I gather that most people here intend on keeping their onward flights in tact.

i see. but the reference to the first class lounge is a give away coupled with the fact that so many people on these boards over the years have posted about how to go airside and then go landside after they have used the lounge.

It's not difficult for me to fathom a travel novice being oblivious to one or both of these points, but I hope the lesson learned spills over to others who accept long layovers.

I'm hopeful that the new rules will dissuade folks from attempting to clog up lounge space upon arrival. That space should be reserved for people with morning flights, but I suppose that barring the 12 hour people from leaving the airport could be a pill worth swallowing during the short term.

So turns out after waiting around for ~40min they had someone from the central office come and escort me out. They walked me to the transfer area, said something to the security guard, who then opened a side door and was on my merry way!

I didn't want to make my friend wake up so early, so decided to bum around the airport, had I known there was an arrival lounge, would've just gone there and saved all the trouble!