A Tale of Two Airports, HKG and LAX

I recently flew from Hong Kong to Los Angeles and was once again reminded of what a great airport Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport is, especially when compared with most U.S. International gateway airports.

The biggest difference is the ease with which a passenger can transfer from one airline to another. At Hong Kong, you merely follow the signs to the correct transfer desk without leaving the building and proceed through security, up the escalator to the departure level and follow the well designed signs to your gate.

At LAX, after collecting your luggage and then re-depositing it at a very confusing area that only serves some of the U.S. airlines, a passenger must then figure out how to get to the terminal that serves their connecting airline. There are seven including Bradley International. There is a terminal transfer bus (the “A” Bus) but unless you read English or understand the garbeled announcements, you can get easily confused as to where the bus stops or even worse take the “B” bus or the “C” bus or the “D” Bus and end up in a distant parking lot.

If you are flying an airline like Southwest or ATA, you must physically take your bags to the correct terminal and check them in there. That some international airlines fly into and out of what are basically domestic terminals creates even more confusion. I feel sorry for the first time visitor to the U.S. who is not spending their first night in Los Angeles.

I won’t even mention the delightful ambience of Hong Kong International or the first class restaurants and shopping available on the gate-side of the terminal serving transfer and departing passengers as opposed to the hamburger joints and tacky souvenir shops dotting LAX.

Enough, already and I’m not even talking about Kennedy or Dulles or O’Hare. San Francisco has improved their airport but I’m still boggled by the fact that there is no attendant at the BART terminus at the airport and no change machine just confusing signage and if you are lucky, helpful fellow travelers who know the drill.

At Hong Kong International, there is a large customer service desk for information and purchasing tickets on the Airport Express. This is in addition to the usual ticket dispensing machines. There are also desks serving passengers who wish to ride the bus or take a limo or go directly to their hotel.

Chek Lap Kok is as much of a joy to travel into and out of as any airport can be in this era of high security and increased traffic.