Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge Hong Kong Now First Class Facility

Over the next couple of years, Cathay Pacific’s The Wing Lounge Hong Kong will be renovated, starting with the first class section, followed by the business class section. Unlike some other airlines, Cathay Pacific is trying to make this process as seamless as possible for premium passengers, and we’re now seeing the latest example of that.

Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge opens to first class

As of today (Wednesday, May 21, 2025), Cathay Pacific’s The Deck Lounge Hong Kong is operating as a oneworld first class lounge, rather than as a oneworld business class lounge. That means that the lounge is now open exclusively to oneworld first class passengers and oneworld Emerald members. To state the obvious, this also means that oneworld business class passengers and oneworld Sapphire members no longer have access to the lounge, for the time being.

For context, the lounge is 823 square meters (9,000 square feet), with seating for 180 guests. It’s located in Terminal 1, near gate 6, and is open daily from 5:30AM until 12:30AM.

The lounge opened in 2018, and features the carrier’s signature lounge design. However, it closed again at the start of the pandemic, and only reopened in early 2023. Prior to becoming The Deck, this was known as the G16 Lounge, and was intended for Dragonair passengers… those were the days! You can read my 2019 review of the lounge here.

With this becoming a first class lounge, you can also expect updated amenities. For example, the lounge will boast an upgraded drink selection, plus a la carte dining.

Now, if you have the time, it’s almost certainly worth trekking out to Cathay Pacific’s The Pier First Lounge, which is phenomenal, and has the same entry requirements as The Deck First Lounge. However, admittedly The Pier is a bit out of the way, especially if you’re departing from a lower gate number.

I’ve heard of some premium passengers who don’t arrive at Hong Kong Airport many hours early to use the lounges. I mean, I haven’t personally met any of these people, but apparently they do exist. So for those people, proximity to the gate might be a priority. 😉

I’m impressed by Cathay Pacific’s thoughtfulness

I understand airport lounge projects can be challenging, given the desire to improve an experience, without disrupting the current setup too much. In many cases, we see airlines not offering many alternatives when lounges are upgraded. For example, Aeromexico is renovating its Mexico City lounges, with no alternatives for customers.

But my gosh, Cathay Pacific really thought this through. With Cathay Pacific’s The Wing First Lounge closing as of Friday, May 23, 2025, we’re now seeing two alternative lounges:

• We’re seeing The Deck transformed from The Deck Business Lounge to The Deck First Lounge
• We’ve just seen the reopening of The Bridge, which was previously “permanently” closed, to add more lounge capacity; that lounge also has a first class section, though with stricter entry requirements

The expectation is that the work on Cathay Pacific’s The Wing First Lounge will take around a year, so during that time, The Deck is operating as The Deck First Lounge. Once that project is complete, and work starts on The Wing Business Lounge, The Deck will revert to being The Deck Business Lounge.

So while I understand this can be confusing at first, you can’t do a much better job than Cathay Pacific has done here, with trying to offer alternatives for guests.

Bottom line

Cathay Pacific’s The Deck Lounge Hong Kong has just gone from being a business class lounge to a first class lounge. This comes days ahead of the closure of Cathay Pacific’s The Wing First Lounge, as that’s about to undergo a roughly one year renovation. Once that’s complete, this will revert to being a business class lounge.

What do you make of The Deck becoming a first class lounge?