Hong Kong Airport uses one terminal, designated Terminal 1. A second building, designated Terminal 2, is being built directly opposite the existing terminal.
Hong Kong Airport is one of the largest airports in the world, but the airport buildings are compact and well signposted.
Terminal 1
Currently the airport's only terminal handling all flights.
Arrivals are on the ground floor and check-in counters on the 1st floor.
Most departure gates are located in the central building and even the outermost gates are accessible from security within 10 minutes (some of the outer gates are accessible by foot and free automated train).
Departure gates 13 - 21 are located in a satellite building accessible by a pedestrian overpass above the airfield.
Departure gates 201 - 230 are located in another satellite building known as "Midfield Concourse". These gates are only accessible by the free 24/7 automatic train. It takes approximately 10-15 minutes to reach the gates from the security checkpoint.
Terminal 2
The new Terminal 2 is being built directly opposite Terminal 1, which will be connected to it by a pedestrian corridor (about 150 metres).
Due to the spatial layout of the airport, all departure gates will be in another building in the middle of the airport area, which can be reached from the security checkpoint within 10 minutes by a free underground automatic train.
Terminal 2 is expected to be operational by 2030.
Security and immigration checks
There are several security checkpoints in each terminal, but all of them lead to a central area and can be used to get to all departure gates of the respective terminals.
Security checks in Hong Kong are well organised and you will be kept to a maximum wait of 15 minutes.
The queue for immigration on arrival usually takes 20-50 minutes.
Immigration check on departure is usually very quick and you will rarely wait longer than 5 minutes.
Transfer between flights
If you will be connecting at Hong Kong Airport with one ticket (both flights are on one booking), in the vast majority of cases you will be connecting within a single terminal.
Connections are very well organised and well signposted.
At each transfer you will go through a special security checkpoint set aside for transfer passengers only. You will never go through immigration.
Queues for transfer security checks are short and last up to 10 minutes at most.
The total real transfer time varies between 20 and 45 minutes depending on the location of the connecting departure gate.
Airport map
An interactive map of the entire airport and each terminal can be found on the airport's official website: hongkongairport.com/map.