HK Express – My trip report on Hong Kong’s only low-cost carrier

HK Express started as Hong Kong Express Airways in 2004 with a fleet of Embraer aircraft. In 2006, HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines in China, acquired a major stake in the airline together with Hong Kong Airlines in the same year. In 2013, the airline was renamed to “HK Express” and transformed itself to a true low-cost carrier under the new deputy CEO Andrew Cowen. 

The new branding to “HK Express” allowed the airline to be reborn with a new logo and standout aircraft livery featuring the Hong Kong skyline. Also, with a pure focus on a no-frills low-cost model, the airline can establish itself as the only low-cost airline based in Hong Kong. This allows HK Express to differentiate itself from other Hong Kong based airlines. Moreover, allows the public to associate HK Express as an airline that always have low fares (true or not) to holiday destinations. Hong Kong was lacking such an airline for far too long.

In March 2019, Cathay Pacific took over HK Express completely for HK$4.93 billion (US$628 million). HK Express is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific as a “stand-alone low-cost carrier to serve a niche value market segment”. The flight for this trip report was done back in 2017 before HK Express was taken over by Cathay Pacific.

What is Passenger Experience?

Passenger Experience is often associated with a full fare/full service/legacy airline such as Cathay Pacific. (Read my comprehensive trip report on the newest Cathay Pacific A350 here.) However, I argue that Passenger Experience is also as important for a low-cost carrier. Whilst passenger expectations might be different, Passenger Experience is still an indispensable part of air travel today.

As with all airlines, it starts with the booking process and the check-in experience at the airport. Especially for low-cost carriers, it means that this process has to be simple and any options that requires time at the check-in counter should be transferred to and done online. This will bring down check-in time and possibly the number of check-in agents.

Low-cost doesn’t mean no service. The service from check-in to arriving at your destination should be seamless and efficient.

The product coupled with the service on board will create a passenger experience that each and everyone of us should remember after a flight. This memory may serve as a reference point when we are planning our next vacation in deciding between two airlines with a similar fare.

If the fare is lower than competing airlines and the experience was on par, the decision on who to fly with on your next vacation should be extremely easy for the passenger to decide.

I think HK Express have achieved the goal in establishing itself as a low-cost carrier which brings a new kind of passenger experience that allow holiday makers the opportunity to travel more than they could previously.

Simplicity should be synonymous with low-cost carriers. 

It starts from buying your ticket

HK Express website is very easy to navigate and buying your ticket online is a very easy process. Everything was very cleanly presented. 

U-FLY is the first low-cost carrier alliance started in 2016 between HK Express, Lucky Air, Urumqi Air, and West Air. They are all majority owned by China’s HNA Group. Once you dig deeper into HK Express marketing strategy, it is apparent that the U-Fly branding is everywhere. HK Express also sell their own holiday packages through their U-Fly Holidays website. I do find this U-Fly branding a bit confusing and the only reason is to align this to the “alliance”. I think it will be much better to keep HK Express branding and call it as HK Express Holidays.

Picking your flights is very easy with the fare and breakdown of additional charges clearly displayed.

The fare categories are clearly explained and identified. All tickets have 3 fare categories called “Fun”, “Fun+” and “U-Biz”. They all have their own restrictions which is clearly marked and shown on the website. It is interesting to see that HK Express have a “U-Biz” category which costs significantly more than the cheapest “Fun” category. The “U-Biz” fare includes almost all add-ons and allows for seat selection and a 30kg check-in baggage allowance. This fare class still might be a good deal compared to the cheapest economy fare class for other full service airlines.

It will be interesting to learn from HK Express if most passengers select the cheapest “Fun” fare category. A recent Bloomberg article suggests that many passengers would trade up from the lowest fare class.

Once you’ve selected your flight, they’ve set a 1 25kg baggage allowance as default meaning if you do not un-check the option, it will be included in your fare. They’ve also included a travel insurance fee as well if you opt to buy travel insurance from them but again you can un-check this option. Given the fare of the tickets, the baggage allowance seems a bit expensive but this is all part of the low-cost carrier business model by charging for every optional items. Again, possibility of making the next higher fare category which includes baggage allowance more attractive if you do require check-in baggage.

The carry-on policy is quite lenient and similar to other airlines with 7KG allowance for carry-on baggage. This is the same for many full fare airlines and you are also allowed to bring a small “camera” bag or handbag.

The U-Fly Alliance reward is fully integrated into the booking process where you can enter your reward-U number.

You will also get a discount when you pre-book your meal online for the flight. There selection is limited but take note that HK Express do not allow you to bring your own food on-board. I think this is fair as this is how the low-cost business model functions.

Choosing your seat is optional but if you want to pay HKD$45 for a standard seat just pick on the seat map from the screen. You can also choose your seat anytime after you’ve purchased your ticket if you decided to do so afterwards. The seats that are closer to the front of the aircraft costs HKD$100 where the idea is you get to depart faster than everyone else. The bulkhead seats with a longer leg room will cost you HKD$180. If you do not pay for a seat, you will be assigned a random seat when you check-in.

HK Express takes many different payment option including Alipay and WeChat pay which is very popular in China.

The HK Express APP

Purchasing a ticket on your smart phone using the HK Express APP is as easy as on their website. I believe this will be the trend as more and more people will purchase airline tickets directly on their phone.

The APP is very easy to use and nicely designed in my opinion. The photos of each destination is displayed in a way that entice you to visit.

Choosing your flight and picking your fare class is very easy and clearly identified just like on the website.

You can purchase seats and baggage just like you could on the website with the HK Express APP.

Good photos and descriptions in the APP as well for pre-booking your meal on-board if you decide to do so.

The seat map and pricing is clearly identified if you want to select your seat in advanced.

The payment option is the same as on the website with many options available.

Online Check-in Process

I did not have any check-in baggage so I did not have to go to the check-in counter at all. I printed my boarding pass online after the online check-in process and headed straight to the security checkpoint at Hong Kong Airport. HK Express only allows printed boarding pass to be used in a few airports only. This is mainly due to airport infrastructure rather than HK Express themselves.

Online check-in is open 48 hours before your departure time. You can use your printed boarding pass if you depart from Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan. This means if you do not have any check-in baggage like me, you can go straight to the security checkpoint with your printed boarding pass. You can also check-in with the HK Express APP and can save your boarding pass on your phone as well which is fantastic.

Boarding Process

The boarding gate was at Gate 229 which means we need to take the automated people mover to the new midfield concourse in Hong Kong Airport. Gate 288-230 are not frontal stands which means they are gates for transfer buses for aircraft parked at remote bays. The aircraft was parked at remote bay V131 which means we need to take a bus out to the aircraft. Most low-cost carriers will use outer-bays. Parking at outer bays means lower parking fees and are usually closer to the runway thus utilizing less taxi time and fuel.

It took us around 15 minutes to get from the security check-point at Terminal 2 to the Gate 229. After security and immigration from T2, we need to take an automated people mover to T1 and then go across the platform to change to another automated people mover which will whisk you through to the Midfield Concourse with a stop at the West Hall of the main terminal. 

Until this point, we still haven’t seen any HK Express staff yet.  This is fantastic as interaction will only slow the process from curbside to the gate down. 

The gate agent saw our printed boarding pass and ushered us to the service desk. She typed on the computer and let us back to the line for the bus. I am not sure why she needed to do this. This took the flow away from what could have been a near perfect boarding process from airport curbside to the aircraft.

There were two buses that took all the passengers to the aircraft. It took less than 5 minutes for us to get to the aircraft. HK Express basically “own” these bays as they allow easy in-out without any push-back required. This minimize the time to wait for the push-back tractors and service fee to use such services.

The Seat and the Cabin

Bright and well maintained cabin with minimal features are the hall mark of most low-cost carriers. The leather seat covers makes the seat look clean and more “classy” as it is on this seat. The seat have a magazine holder for the in-flight magazines and safety card. You can also use this as a tablet holder if you have a flip-able case where you can insert one end of the flip into this slot. There is also a meal tray table where there is an opening that leads back up to the magazine holder. This is a great design where you do not need to worry about loosing anything inside the magazine holder as everything should fall back down through the meal tray table. There is no seat pockets which is great because there is no need to worry about rubbish accumulating in the seat pockets. There is no sick bag in the seat and I am sure the cabin crew will give you one if you ask.

The particular aircraft today was B-LCJ with MSN5685 which was a fairly new aircraft that joined the HK Express fleet in 2015. The aircraft was delivered to Jetstar as a new aircraft in 2013. The cabin was in a surprisingly good condition given the cycle that she needs to fly daily. As with all low-cost carrier, it is a single class cabin with standard economy class seat. (Single Class cabins might reduce air rage as one study found here) The pitch of the seat was also surprising generous. The seat pitch is around 29 inches and seat width is around 18 inches. 

The In-flight Passenger Experience

Your in-flight entertainment will be a good book you bring along with you. My flight was around 2 hours so the time went by quickly. An issues though is that you cannot listen to your music from your smartphone or any portable devices during take-off and landing. All electronic devices must also be switched off. You cannot even read your Kindle on your portable device.

I believe HK Express could submit a regulatory approval to the local aviation authority for passengers to use small  electronic devices during takeoff and landing. Many airlines already allow passengers to do so. This also creates a lot of extra work for cabin crews as they were constantly asking passengers to switch their phone off while they are doing their takeoff/landing checks.

There are 4 different reading materials inside the magazine holder for each seat. I was surprised there are this many. They are all branded as “U” as in U-Fly Alliance. Again, I am not so sure about this marketing strategy as I believe most passengers will not link the “U” to “HK Express”.

The 4 reading materials are:

1.) Uexplore: This is the in-flight magazine. The articles are quite good and well designed.

2.) Utaste: This is the menu for in-flight food.

3.) Usave: This is a promotional booklet for mostly ground transportation discounts for cities that HK Express flies to.

4.) Ushop: This is the in-flight shopping magazine. There is a good selection of products sold.

HK Express do not allow passengers to bring and consume food/drink that is not bought in-flight.

Final Thoughts

I had a great experience with HK Express. For both my sectors to and from Siem Reap, the flights departed and arrived on-time. Many argue that the Low-Cost Carriers overlook Passenger Experience but I argue that this is not the case. Passenger Experience starts from the moment you purchase the ticket and it is obvious that HK Express took the time and effort to ensure the online experience is as smooth as possible. This is the portal for most of its ticket sales. The online check-in was without issues and I can even use my printed boarding pass and head straight to the security check point when departing from Hong Kong.

Having to pay for your meals or not having in-flight entertainment doesn’t mean there is no passenger experience. There were only 4 cabin crew on-board the A320 but they were all very professional. They were helping passengers find overhead bin spaces throughout the boarding process and with courtesy. The meal service is the same as in any airline albeit you need to pay for what you want. I actually bought some food after the meal service when they pushed the meal court down the aisle. I approached the cabin crew at the front galley and she was very friendly even though it was after the meal service. After I’ve ordered and paid for my food, she said she will bring the food to my seat. You might take these for granted if you pay a premium price for a ticket on a full-service airline but as a low-cost carrier, I did not get any bad service or anything that made me feel uncomfortable.

The only caveat is that there is no in-flight entertainment system that all of us are so used to when flying on a full service airline. However, all HK Express flights are no more than 4 to 5 hours and I can bear with not watching TV for a few hours. We all have smartphones or tablets nowadays and with some preparation, you can bring your own entertainment on-board. Also, bring a good book and maybe this is the excuse for you to finish the book that you’ve always wanted to finish.

Hong Kong was due for a true low-cost carrier for far too long. HK Express opened up a new market in Hong Kong and allows more cost conscious people to travel abroad. This is truly great to see. It promotes tourism not only from Hong Kong to other countries but drawing in tourist from other countries to Hong Kong as well.

Siem Reap Airport

Read about my time at Siem Reap and Angkor Archaeological Park here.

The Siem Reap airport is a small airport but have a beautiful exterior. I am surprised by the number of shops and food and beverage outlets inside the terminal. It is a bit of a walk from the aircraft to the terminal especially under the sun. This airport do not have any frontal stands which means every passenger will need to walk from aircraft to terminal by foot.

 

There were 4 counters opened in Siem Reap airport when I departed. There was only 1 dedicated line for those that have already checked-in online but there is only one agent serving this line so it is the longest is slowest. I’ve checked-in online but after I’ve waited for more than 10 minutes with the line barely moving at all, I moved to the other 3 counters where there were 3 agents working.

I suggest maybe open a line for passengers without check-in baggage and 1 line for those that did online check-in already.  The other 2 counters can be for other passengers with check baggage and without online check-in. Passengers that checked-in online should not need to wait longer in line than those that did not. The idea is to promote passengers to use the online check-in system by having a faster check-in process. This wasn’t the case at Siem Reap airport.

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