Which flights to HK are likely for me to catch a train from HK to Guangzhou?

Upvote:4

Is it sufficient,

Not really. If everything goes super well, you might make it but in my opinion it's extremely risky.

Can this flight likely help me catch the train from HK

Sure. Taking an earlier flight will certainly help but it's in no way guaranteed. I personally would not do that either. Border controls can be very slow and are notoriously unpredictable. Covid adds a lot more uncertainty as well.

Here is another option:

You can avoid Hong Kong by taking the ferry to Shenzhen (or maybe even Guangzhou ) At the Sky Pier at the airport you can enter the mainland directly without having to go though Hong Kong. In Shenzhen you can spend a night and then grab a train to wherever you want to go the next day.

Upvote:4

Let's imagine our flight arrives on time, and the aircraft door opens right at the scheduled time.

I'm not counting anything Covid-related because I have no idea what the current procedures are or how long they take. I'm not counting your side trip to get a new test done either.

  • Time to deplane, travelling in coach on a wide-body: 10-15 minutes
  • To to get to border control: HKIA is very efficient and well-organised, but it's huge, large enough that there's a people mover inside the main terminal. If you're lucky enough to arrive at gate 1, sure, it'll be quick, but if you arrive at gate 50 or 70, or at the midfield concourse, it'll probably take a good 20 minutes from the gate to border control.
  • Border control can be quite busy. Again, you can be lucky and get through in a few minutes, or it could take 20-30 minutes wait.
  • Let's suppose you don't have any checked luggage, zip through the baggage hall and customs and on to the arrivals area.
  • Count 5 minutes to buy a ticket at a kiosk, or more if you have to use the service center.
  • Airport Express trains are frequent, but if you just missed one, it can be up to 17 minutes until the next one (usually slightly less, but the schedule is more irregular than I remembered)
  • 22 minutes to Kowloon
  • Probably 15 minutes to get from the depths of Kowloon station, wander through the Elements mall, and on to West Kowloon station
  • You should probably count at least 30 minutes for border control procedures
  • Doors close 5 minutes before the scheduled time.

So it could take up to 2h39 from aircraft to train.

So, no, 2h27 is not feasible, and 3h27 is probably cutting it very very tight.

And, again, that's:

  • Without any delay of your incoming flight
  • Not counting Covid-related formalities in HKIA
  • Not counting the detour to get a new test
  • Without any issues anywhere.

The usual recommendation for a self-transfer within the same airport is at least 4 hours (when missing the second flight is not too much of an issue). Here you have a lot more travel and formalities on the way. Either get there much earlier, or plan to spend the night.

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