Asiana Airlines Trip Report: Check-in & CNAC Lounge Hong Kong

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Asiana Airlines Trip Report: Check-in & CNAC Lounge HKG

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Asiana’s check-in desk opens at 8:00pm in Hong Kong for the late night flight (or flights as it was this day since they also had another one to Seoul 40 minutes after mine). I wanted to visit both the Singapore SilverKris and CNAC (China National Aviation Corporation) lounges and checked-in right as the counter opened.

people at the check-in counterThe agent’s English was excellent, better than what I experienced at LAX, and I quickly had my boarding pass and lounge invitation in hand.

a close-up of a cardSecurity and exit immigration were quick and I first stopped in the SilverKris lounge since they close first at 10:00pm. I’m doing the lounge reviews out of order since I wanted to keep the Asiana experience unique and attached to my check-in with the airline. The CNAC and another Dragonair lounge are up an escalator across from gate 16.

a sign with text and arrowsa sign in a building with escalatorsa glass door in a buildingA total of 16 airlines use this contracted lounge and it showed. When I entered, it felt sterile and far too bright for my taste. A ridiculous amount of cardboard cut outs of uniformed airline agents lined the left wall as I approached the check-in desk. It’s a spacious lounge with lots of different seating areas where I found worn and tired furnishings.

a person sitting in an airplane with several monitorsa room with black leather chairs and a postera large grey rectangular object in a roomNear the entrance are a luggage storage area and a couple of rows of cubicle workstations. Newspaper and magazine selections were also nearby. The walkway to the right after you enter leads to a row of several non-enclosed, half-wall rooms with relaxation chairs. They looked comfy, but I didn’t try them out.

a plate of food on a tablea container of vanilla ice cream on a plate with a spoon The central lounge area is outfitted with two long buffet tables with meager offerings, including soups, chicken sausages, Haggen Daaz ice cream, sandwich wedges, fruit & veggies, pastries and chilled noodle dishes. None of it looked too appealing and I had just eaten in the Singapore lounge, so passed on it all.

a long shot of a food countera small refrigerator with food on ita stack of plates and a tray of sandwichesa counter with pastries and other items on ita food buffet with food on the countera tray of food on a tableCold beverages were available in mini-refrigerators underneath the buffet, as well as alcoholic options on top.

a refrigerator with drinks in ita group of bottles of liquid in a metal basketNow here’s something I thought was incredibly strange. There were absolutely no proper napkins anywhere. The only thing available was a tissue-type thing from a few dispensers located on top of the buffet. Very weird.

a tissue box with a napkin on topOne great thing this lounge does have, similar to Cathay Pacific’s The Wing, is a fantastic view of the tarmac. Since it was nighttime, the views were a bit glary from the terminal lighting, but I enjoyed watching a British Airways flight to London board and push back from the gate. One corner near the bathrooms had a seating area with incredibly bright orange chairs and marblesque tables.

a table and chairs in a roomThe men’s room was pretty gross and basically the equivalent of what I found downstairs in the main terminal, maybe even worse. Just outside the restrooms was a short hall containing four shower rooms. They were locked, so evidently you’d contact the front desk to arrange for a room.

a bathroom with sinks and soap dispensersa urinals in a bathrooma hallway with cabinets and plantsWhile nicer than just sitting around the gate area, this lounge is nothing special. My next installment will show off a much better lounge option for Star Alliance Gold members flying Asiana.

Comments

  1. Yuk… I’m scheduled to fly Philippine Airlines from HKG – MNL and am dreading the CNAC lounge. How did you manage to use the SQ lounge prior??

    I’m Star Alliance Gold, so normally have SQ lounge access. But since my PR boarding pass isn’t Star Alliance, I guess I’m out of luck.

    How did you do it?

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