Cathay’s in-town Hong Kong Airport check-in to reopen Wednesday

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.’s passenger check-in desks will reopen in Hong Kong’s central business district Wednesday, after a more than three-year shutdown sparked by Covid.

Cathay will be the sole airline offering in-town airport check-in services, and only from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hong Kong train operator MTR Corp. said Monday. 

Bloomberg News first reported about the resumption on June 26.

MTR said it would keep talking with airlines about restarting downtown check-in — prior to the pandemic, other carriers also had counters at the station and they were open for longer.

Hong Kong’s in-town check-in was suspended in April 2020 as international travel dried up. Even though the city abandoned its last Covid restrictions months ago, a shortage of workers prevented MTR and the airport from restarting the bag-drop service.  

The aviation industry globally has faced acute staffing shortages as travel rebounds from the Covid crisis, and Hong Kong is bringing in workers from overseas to fill posts in the industry and other sectors.

The airport check-in downtown enables passengers to drop off their luggage in central Hong Kong up to 24 hours before flying, with the bags then sent on to their final destination. The feature, offered in few places globally, helped underscore Hong Kong’s reputation as a convenient and efficient world city.

Cathay confirmed on its website that services will restart from Hong Kong Station, but operations at Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations remain suspended.

Express-train services from Hong Kong Station to the airport run every 10-15 minutes. The journey takes 24 minutes and costs HK$110-HK$115 ($14-$15) per adult.