Introduction
Hi all, welcome back to another flight review of mine!
For our holiday in the summer this year, we decided to visit Kansai. We managed to find tickets on Hong Kong Airlines at quite a good price of 3000HKD, 30 kilos of checked bags and seat selections. Although the timing of the outbound flight was less ideal, we still chose it as this was quite a competitive price compared with other airlines. (FYI, this matches the pricing for other low-cost carriers like Peach & HK Express if I were to include the same add-ons; meanwhile, Cathay was charging double of that)
This would also allow me to try Hong Kong Airlines' all-economy A320 for the first time on this flight!
Flight routing
- 1HX612 - Economy - HKG-KIX - A320
- 2HX619 - Economy - KIX-HKG - A330
An Update on Hong Kong Airlines
This isn't my first time flying HX since they went bankrupt - I tried them on their A330 to CTS a few months back.
Since my last flight, HX has announced several changes to their in-flight services. Other than officially resuming entertainment on A330s (which I will review in my next report), they also resumed hot meal services on several routes (with KIX being one of them). They also leased more A320s and an extra 3 A330s to enhance their fleet, but none of them have entered service as of now.
This would be an interesting attempt to evaluate how their services have changed, and whether HX remains a competitive carrier for travellers. For my ratings this time, I will be judging the criteria with reference to the pricing to make this comparison more fair.
The Airport Experience
We arrived at HKG at around 1:15pm for our 2:45pm flight. We had HX status so were able to use the business class check-in desk, but the regular lines were also quite empty.

After getting our hand luggage checked, we proceeded through security. HKG at this time of the day isn't too busy, so we made it to the air side in around 15 minutes or so.
The Lounge Experience – Plaza Premium Lounge (Gate 35)
As my dad ranked up some points with his credit card, we were able to access the Plaza Premium Lounge. There are actually 3 plaza premium lounges at HKG - one near Gate 1 (East Hall), one near Gate 35 and the final one near Gate 60 (West Hall).
Note: Please DO NOT EVER USE THE PLAZA PREMIUM LOUNGE AT GATE ONE!!!!! That lounge has been consistently overcrowded since it ever opened as it is the closest to security, with long lines to get inside the lounge or even to get yourself some food. Seating is also extremely limited. I recommend using the one at Gate 35 or 60 as they are quite far and hence not many people know they exist! :)
The one at Gate 35 should be the best as CX flights tend to use the Gate 60 wing, which may bring more traffic.
(Plaza Premium First at Gate 1 is still fine as most credit card holders do not have access to it. The two PP lounges at Gate 1 operate as separate lounges.)
To access the lounge at Gate 35 (or Gate 60), simply take the automatic people mover for 1 stop to Gates 40-80. Ignore the instructions telling you to walk as that is simply a waste of time.

Here's a basic view of the lounge. It is by no means big, but still offers a cozy place for passengers to wait for their flight. Below is basically the main buffet zone of the lounge, with hot food options being limited to snacks like chicken nuggets, spring rolls or a spicy chicken soup with noodles.

Here's a view of the secondary buffet zone. This lounge also comes with a shower section (which is right behind me in this photo). As you can see, this lounge is not crowded at all with plenty of open seating despite its size. (I suspect this used to be another airline lounge – it could be CX's?? But I'm not too sure about the details)

The window view was absolutely amazing! I was able to spot B-KQQ before her flight to Vancouver later that night!

Anyways, we still managed to find something to eat before our flight. As my stomach wasn't feeling too well that day, I didn't eat a lot. The chicken noodle soup helped a lot, though. The food was quite tasty too.

Even though the food options were quite limited, I still found this lounge to be far better than other third-party lounges (especially at other airports). The staff were attentive and cleared our plates the moment we finished our food; refills were also provided promptly and I really enjoyed relaxing in the lounge before my flight.
Back to the Airport Experience
Afterwards, it was another train ride to the Midfield concourse (Gates 201-230), where all Hong Kong Airlines flights depart from. The same applies if you are travelling on HK Express or Greater Bay Airlines, so please make sure to reserve ample time for the train ride as the concourse is quite far away!

Arriving at the gate, I saw B-LPC, the 12-year-old A320 which would take us to Osaka. It is currently the oldest A320 in HX's fleet, in an all-economy configuration with 174 seats. That is 1 row less than the typical LCC configuration.

We were next to a HX A320, a UO A321neo (which would race us to Osaka) and an A330 owned by HX.

Boarding was delayed by quite a lot as the plane had just previously arrived from Okinawa at 13:55. This short of a turnaround is quite a typical thing for HX nowadays as they are extremely short of aircraft. Very often the arrival time of the inbound flight would even be later than the departure time of the next outbound, causing quite a lot of delays. We were quite lucky today though as there was still sufficient time for the turnaround.

Cabin
Boarding started at 14:40, 35 minutes later than expected (they often schedule their boarding times far earlier than the actual time), and we were among the first ones to board the aircraft, thanks to frequent flyer status again. The display at the gate showed our new estimated departure time of 15:03.

The crew stood at the entrance, welcoming everyone onboard.

Welcome onboard HX's A320! The seats here are arranged in a 3-3 layout, and are actually quite thick to my surprise. They offered good back support and were generally quite comfortable.

Of course, the thick seat came with a cost. The pitch on these planes was horrendous, at only 29-30 inches. I did feel that it would be closer to the 30 end (the pitch felt similar to QF's 737) and I could fit one fist between my knee and the front of the seat when seated upright. However, when I sat normally, my knees would be touching the seatback pocket. FYI I'm about 175cm tall and these seats gave me leg pain after the flight.

There was no in-flight entertainment onboard, which certainly doesn't help with how the tight this plane is. There are also no power outlets nor USB ports, so please juice up your devices beforehand or bring a portable charger! (I'm actually not sure whether they're allowed on HX flights, the FA stopped me from using one on the outbound but didn't care on the inbound flight)

Inside the seatback pocket was a safety card…

and an in-flight shopping magazine. The crew were more enthusiastic selling duty-free than anything else, making two or three announcements about having inflight shopping magazines.

This seat also came with a tray table of a decent size. However, it was a little slanted and I was quite scared that my entire meal tray would fall off during meals.

The cabin was showing its age…this unit had only returned to service in February 2023, and I was quite shocked with the wear and tear.


Overall, the cabin reminded me of a low-cost carrier, except for the thick seatback padding. HX has another configuration of the A320s with business class (called the 32H) with 8 seats in Business and 144 seats in Economy, and those planes have a far-friendlier pitch at 31-32 inches in economy. (They have the same seats, just more legroom). However, they aren't sent onto routes to Japan frequently, presumably due to their low capacity.
However, considering how HX often sells their flights at prices even cheaper than HK Express or another LCC Greater Bay Airlines, I think the quality of the cabin is quite justified. Without the price of the flight into consideration, this cabin would've earned a 6.0 max.
Departure
I was impressed by how boarding took less than 10 minutes to complete, and the door was shut right after at 14:53. I've found the HX crew to be extremely efficient (compared with CX) when it comes to these formalities.

There was a slight delay due to flow control at HKIA (Beware of this nowadays as it has become quite a common sight – especially for morning flights if there's bad weather), and we pushed back at 15:17, approx. 35 minutes behind schedule.
We took off at 15:36 for our 3-hour 25-minute flight to Osaka.


Meal Service
As the skies were quite bumpy out of HKG, the seatbelt sign was kept on for nearly an hour until the meal service eventually started. There were two carts (one from the front, one from the middle), with two FAs responsible for each. This was surprisingly more than CX having only 1 crew to serve around 60 passengers. (This was around 40 per crew as the ISM hid in the galley and played with his phone)

Eh!? Where's the bun I was used to on HX?? Why is there a hot meal in front of me?
In fact, HX has finally resumed hot meals on selected daytime flights operated by the A320 & A330 which depart before 8 pm local time, starting from July. Here are the details regarding the availability of hot meals. If you're unsure whether you will get a hot meal on your flight, feel free to comment below and I'll try my best to help you.
The meal came with a bottle of water, which was appreciated (CX doesn't even give bottled water to economy passengers on short flights!). Plastic cutlery was also provided, which I didn't mind.
One thing notable from this meal tray, compared with carriers like CX or QR is the missing salad, fruits, bun etc. I wouldn't complain too much though as they usually aren't delicious.

My expectations may have been quite low, but this meal does a fantastic look in terms of looks and taste! This is the Miso Chicken rice and was happy to see how HX catered according to the destination of our flight.
The chicken was tender enough and appetising, working well with the miso soup to make the meal flavourful. The rice was a little mushy, though expected. I appreciate how the vegetables were still fresh. Well done from the catering side! This puts some of the meals on other so-called premium airlines to shame.

Ice-cream was available as a dessert. This is a local brand called Dairy Farm (牛奶公司) which brings back lots of childhood memories!
It's by no means as premium as the Haagen-dazs on CX, but does the job just as fine.

Overall, I was quite impressed by the meal service. I do think this is a great step for the airline in its gameplan to make a comeback, and appreciate how they still try their best to improve. The portions aren't the greatest though (even though they were fine for me), so you can still bring your own snacks onboard (FWIW that is allowed as opposed to HK Express & Greater Bay Airlines).
Crew
The crew were friendly and extremely efficient at doing things. They managed to complete boarding & shut the door within 15 minutes, and also delivered meals quickly in a very limited window (as the seatbelt sign was on for nearly half of the flight). However, I didn't feel like they wanted to be there or enjoyed their jobs. They also disappear right after the meal service. That didn't bother me as much though, considering the price and the position of HX in the market.
I did notice a few weird things though. Firstly, there were 5 crew on this flight (which is 1 above the minimum of 4 on a 320), but the ISM did not help the crew with the service nor come out into the cabin to interact with customers at all. Instead, he shut the curtains of the galley and played with his phone during the entire flight…What's the point of having an extra crew when that wouldn't make the lives of others easier?
Besides, the crew seemed to be more engaged in trying to make customers buy their onboard duty-free products, making two announcements in all 4 languages throughout the flight regarding in-flight sales… I wonder if they're entitled to revenue-sharing from the company if they manage to sell a product each time.
Moreover, there was an elderly woman who pressed the call bell for a blanket when the seatbelt sign was turned on. The crew stood up still and answered their call bell, but said that they couldn't supply her a blanket as "the seatbelt sign was turned on". Then, the crew proceeded to adjust the temperature of the cabin while standing up…I don't understand the rationale behind this at all – if they ran out of blankets, couldn't they just tell the truth to the passenger instead of blaming it on such a lame excuse? (FWIW the flight also ran out of immigration forms :) )
All of these do show that HX is still quite messy and has to work on some minor details to improve its brand image as a whole. I understand that they are by no means a premium airline (even though they care so much about their Skytrax 4-star rating to the point that THEY PUT IT IN SOME BOARDING ANNOUNCEMENTS – that didn't happen to me but some other travellers have heard it personally before), but some of these minor details leave much to be desired and show the real state of the airline.
Midflight
I took a walk throughout the cabin after the meal service was done. As you see, the flight was quite full, with 164 out of 174 seats taken.

I visited one of the toilets, which were kept surprisingly clean throughout the entire flight. (compared with CX's dirty toilets...)

I also tried out their exit row seat, which had significantly more legroom.


This notice to passengers in exit rows has certainly seen better days…it's these little details that HX has to work on to make its brand seem more premium. (It is dated Nov 2011 at the bottom left, which is basically the time when this plane was first delivered to HX)

I also enjoyed a great sunset from the left side of the plane!

Chasing the sunset as we go!

The passengers on this flight is something I'd like to comment on as well. They were quite disruptive and often talked loudly, and attempted to go to the toilet when the seatbelt sign was turned on. This made me feel quite uncomfortable.
The crew did try to stop their disruptive acts but eventually gave up.

Landing & Disembarkment
We eventually landed at 20:04, 24 minutes behind schedule. The headwinds during this time of the year did not help with the delay in the departure.

We eventually parked at gate 19 at 20:16, one of the closest to immigration. This surprised me as HX seems to frequently use this gate at KIX (compared with how their gates are the furthest from immigration at HKG…)

KIX separated the flow of departing and arriving passengers, though the airport was under a big construction for Expo 2025, which meant quite a long detour before we were able to enter Japan.

Welcome to Kansai! This airport is unique in the sense that it's made of 100% reclaimed land, though is sinking every year as the technology 30 years ago wasn't that polished.

From there, we took the Haruka limited express operated by JR West. They brand all of their trains with the popular figure Hello Kitty, which adds some joy to one's journey!

There are lots of Hello Kitties in the train too!


We eventually arrived at Osaka station, where our hotel was located, ready to start our trip in Kansai! (The tourism bonus will be included in the next review)

Thanks for sharing!
Brilliant review showcasing the HX narrowbody experience! Glad to see the hot meals are back, which seems pretty decent. The ice cream is a nice surprise! However, the hardware product of HX remains unsatisfactory (probably due to aged aircraft and interiors). HX seems to be inferior than other similar competitors in the region, if you consider it to be a full-service carrier.
Agree to what you've said! I do think they need to work on keeping their planes in better shape, their fleet really isn't that old when compared with CX or other Asian carriers that have plenty of A330s & 777s that are 20+ years old. At least their pricing is decent!
It's funny how the aircraft type completely changes my perspective of HX service. While the service on widebodies feels downgraded with the IFE turned off for the last 5 years, the service on the narrowbodies looks quite good because IFE isn't expected...but it's exactly the same service haha. So all in all I guess HX still have a pretty decent product if you take the non-working IFE out of the equation. Despite their new hybrid model, they still offer a pretty full service experience and the meal looks quite nice. It seems that they've been successful in saving on costs and have survived their financial issues---hopefully we'll see them begin to move back upmarket as demand in Asia continues to pick up, granted at a much slower pace than Europe and the Americas. These old cabins are definitely in need of a refurb as soon as they can afford to do it!
Thanks for sharing!
Indeed haha, they resumed IFEs on A330s in April already (I'll cover that in the next report but spoiler alert, it's pretty bad with very limited selections) & there have been rumours about them adding streaming entertainment to their planes soon. The A320s used to have drop-down monitors that play content before they suspended IFEs, but not having that doesn't bother me too much as they usually play boring travel documentaries on those anyways.
The meal is nice & I appreciate how much they resemble a FSC nowadays in terms of their offerings, which makes them quite a favourable option to travel on. Of course you still have to pay for luggage but the price for that is generally not that expensive.
Also, HX has expressed their interest in starting long-haul flights to the USA (again) with the 787s beginning next year, so it'll be interesting to see how their long-haul offerings are!
Thanks for your comment!