Taking flight
With the rise in frequency of business and leisure travel, the amount of time spent on planes and airport lounges has also increased. Among the major airlines working the extra mile to spruce up their facilities to provide a more enjoyable pre-flight experience is Cathay Pacific. Having previously shared its lounge with other airlines, it now sports a dedicated one at Changi Airport Terminal 4, which is located on the mezzanine floor below the departure hall. With a little over an hour to spare, I roamed around the area, including the main hall, Bureau, The Noodle Bar and Food Hall.
The look and feel is warm, residential and relaxed with a material palette of walnut, cherry, bronze and brass. While Cathay Pacific has done away with shower facilities, other features like spacious armchairs, side tables with in-built lamps and sockets for charging devices make up for it. If you have a barrage of emails to send out before boarding your flight, you can work from any of the three workstations with dual operating system imacs and printers at The Bureau.
I had pretty much the same experience at The Deck on my return flight to Singapore. The newly built lounge is housed near gate 16, Terminal 1 of Hong Kong International Airport, and adopts the same design template as the Singapore lounge by Studioilse, a London-based design studio led by llse Crawford. The space accommodates over 180 passengers and sports similar colour tones and furniture. If there’s one thing there should never be missed here, it’s definitely Cathay Pacific’s Noodle Bar. The signature creamy and rich Dan Dan noodles alone call for second helpings.