Quick Review – Hong Kong Express Airbus A320- Hong Kong – Da Nang – Hong Kong, September 2023

HK Express is the low cost operator of Cathay Pacific, and based out of Hong Kong. They operate a fleet of A320-family aircraft, and all their routes are short or medium-short haul (I believe 4.5 hours is the longest.) This quick review is a part of my 3 day getaway to Da Nang in September 2023, which you can read about here.

I booked the flight from HK Express homepage on August 8th, and my flight details were OU558 Hong Kong to Da Nang, September 7 at 16:25, arriving at 17:20 (there is a one hour time difference between HK and Vietnam). The return flight was OU559 at September 9 at 18:10, arriving in HK 21:10. The total cost of the ticket was 1.660 HKD, plus 430 for seat selection (I am more than average size for HK, so I prefer to always pay extra for the emergency exit when available.) Total cost then was 2.090 HKD.

Check-in for the flight was quickly done, and thankfully I have one of the few passports that doesn’t need a visa to get in to Vietnam, which probably made it even quicker for document check.

Boarding was from gate 523, which is a gate used for bus access to remote parked aircraft, and sure enough, as soon as my boarding pass was scanned I was onboard the bus, heading for gate 316. Boarding was from here efficient, and I quickly found my emergency exit seat, 13A, which I had booked in both directions.

The seats are comfortable, and the emergency exit rows offer extra legspace, so no issues from me there.

All planes of HKE is fitted in a standard 3-3 configuration, and it is all one class.

The back of the seats has a fold down tray table, and a magazine and food order menu.

As HKE is a low cost operator. there are no food or drinks included in the price, but there is a menu onboard that you can order from if you need something to eat or drink.

The flight itself was un-eventful, we departed and arrived on time, and there was only a quick walk from the arrival-gate and to immigration. Immigration was awesome, again as holder of a passport that doesn’t need a visa for Vietnam, there was a special priority line for me, and the whole process took 1 minute.

For the return flight, the experience was mostly the same, and nothing worth writing a review about, rather just enjoy the view from the window 🙂

Check out my full trip report to Vietnam here, and my other flight reviews here.