Cathay opens new HKIA lounge

Cathay Pacific will open its newest lounge at Hong Kong International Airport on March 22 as it starts to see signs of recovery in traffic growth. The new lounge, called The Deck,  inherits the DNA of other Cathay lounges such as the impressive The Pier Business lounge. Read about The Pier. But the airline says it differs from the other HKIA lounges because it is on a balcony offering panoramic views of the apron from the eastern side of the terminal. Cathay has designed its lounges around its “Life Well Traveled” concept and pays detailed attention to design and fittings in a bid to offer an oasis of calm amid the airport frenzy. This extends from the design of the furniture to the acoustics and even the wavelength of the light. Dining at The Deck includes Cathay’s signature The Noodle Bar offering local classics such as wonton noodles in broth, fish ball noodles and a variety of dim sum.

  The Main Lounge provides a range of self-service international offerings and passengers can relax in  The Terrace and take in view of the airport’s apron, taxi-ways and northern runway.

There is also a relaxation room with bespoke Solo chairs and eight shower suites. The 823 sq. m lounge offers seating for 180 passengers joins  Cathay Pacific’s other lounges at HKIA, including The Bridge, The Pier Business and First Class lounges, The Wing Business and First Class lounges and The Arrival. However, its arrival means  The Cabin will close on 30 April.

The new lounge comes as passenger and cargo numbers at Cathay are showing signs of growth with combined December passenger traffic figures for Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon up 3.1 percent compared to December 2016, after equivalent increases of 7.9 per cent in November and 6 percent in October. This brought passenger growth for 2017 to  1.4 percent, although this still lagged a capacity increase of 2.8 percent. The airline says says premium traffic is maintaining momentum across most of the network, although long-haul yield remains under pressure from intense competition. Nonetheless, Cathay is expected to announce a loss of about $US345 million when it releases its annual results later this month, according to a median estimate of a Bloomberg News survey of five analysts. Among the problems: inflated wage costs, increasing competition from Chinese rivals and losses from fuel-hedging.