Karryon joins the flying kangaroo party with a special cocktail reception in the Hong Kong business class lounge.
When the first Qantas plane landed in Hong Kong in June 1949 both the journey and the destination were rather different than today. Back then the 7,650km trip from Sydney to colonial Hong Kong took more than 20 hours with stops in Darwin in the NT and Labuan in East Malaysia along the way.
That first flight on a Qantas Douglas DC-4 Skymaster four-engine propeller aircraft could carry only 40 passengers into the legendary Kai Tak airport.
This week our direct Sydney to Hong Kong flight took just over nine hours, with 269 economy and 28 business class seats on our Airbus A330. These days the daily Qantas flights from Sydney and Melbourne land in Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok island, where visitors then make their way to their stays in this special administrative region of China that continues to evolve and offer a mix of new and old experiences for visitors.
Our trip was timed to be a part of the official 75th anniversary celebrations after Karryon received an invitation to join Nick McGlynn, Executive Vice President Asia and other special guests at a cocktail party in the Hong Kong business class lounge.
Last year I was among those celebrating the reopening of the revamped business class lounge. Now it feels good to be back in this stylish 2,000sqm space that looks straight out onto Hong Kong Airport’s Sky Bridge, which became the world’s longest airside bridge that an A380 can to pass under it when it opened in November 2022.
The lounge features a 12.5m long bar, a formal dining area, a lounge style seating area, a business zone where there are plenty of power and data outlets along with high speed Wi-Fi, and 12 luxury private shower suites with Li’Tya amenities.
Knowing just how good the food is, I’m not surprised to hear that since reopening in May 2023, the Qantas Hong Kong Lounge has served over 75,000 baskets of dim sum and 50,000 slices of the signature cheesecake. My tastebuds are very happy to be reunited with these treats along with the flavour packed char siu Chinese barbeque pork and wonton noodle soup.
For the 75th anniversary celebrations a special Dragon Eye Spritz cocktail has been created with vodka, home made longan syrup, kafir and tonic water. The cocktail rubs shoulders on trays with a zingy and delicious Coconut Dream mocktail with coconut milk, pineapple juice, vanilla syrup, lime juice, soda and mint.
Chef Terrance Tsang is all smiles as he moves through the room with the dim sum trolley, and trays of other tasty bites including roasted goose with pickled cucumber relish and sticky beef salad with green papaya, pomelo and palm sugar caramel do the rounds.
The anniversary is also marked in the Sydney and Melbourne First Lounges, where specialities created by Neil Perry including pork and chive dumplings with black vinegar and chilli oil and Hong Kong style beef brisket noodle soup with egg noodles are served.
Back in the Hong Kong lounge, the sound of drums and cymbals have all heads turning to watch the lion dance and within moments the talented dancers have sparked smiles all round. By the end of their performance there’s cabbage and streamers on the floor and surfaces and the scene is set for speech time.
The Chief Operating Officer of the Hong Kong International Airport, Vivian Cheung starts by telling attendees about her memories of the lounge, including when it opened ten years ago, before sharing the news that recovery for travel to Hong Kong is looking up.
“At the end of last year during the peak day we only had 80 per cent of traffic come back.” Vivian says.
“Our forecast for the end of this year in peak season is we will have 100 per cent back. And next year we expect to have a full year at 100 per cent.”
For Nick McGlynn it’s been a little while since he’s been to Hong Kong, and he’s happy to report that it feels good to be back. “It’s just so great to see Hong Kong alive and kicking and really, really well.”
Nick paid tribute to the pioneers of international flying who helped to put Hong Kong on the Qantas map.
“75 years ago was a very different time. It was four years after WWII ended when we arrived in Kai Tak airport with the Skymaster. It sounds like an amazing big name for a relatively small aircraft, flying at 10,000 feet, unpressurised and travelling at about 250 miles per hour. I can’t imagine what that would have been like. It’s certainly very different to the experience flying up here today.”
Nick says the fact that Qantas has continuously flown to Hong Kong for 75 years shows just how important the location is to the network.
Qantas operates over 200,000 seats a year from Australia to Hong Kong with non stop daily flights from Sydney and Melbourne. The route is also an important connector for global trade, with southbound services bringing in e-commerce and electronic goods such as smartphones, while northbound flights share fresh Australian produce including seafood, fruit and vegetables with the world.
And as Hong Kong arrival numbers continue to return to pre pandemic strength it’s a route that looks set to continue to thrive.
The writer travelled as a guest of Qantas and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
