Mouthing Off | Hong Kong airport should stop overcharging for food. We’ve paid enough already!

If you follow airline suggestions, you probably arrive at least an hour or two before a flight. During that waiting time, one inevitably gets a little peckish or thirsty. But after passing security and customs, the restaurants and dining options are extremely limited – and all are overpriced.

Hong Kong is supposed to be a city of open competition. However, the airport is allowed to take advantage of its captive market and maintain an anticompetitive micro-cartel.

A meagre plate of roast pork with rice or an unsatisfactory seafood noodle dish at the food court can cost over HK$100 (US$13), while a McDonald’s combo that would be HK$50 or less in the city is more than HK$70. At the sit-down restaurants with table service, the prices are proportionally even higher than their branches in town.