HK Express

HK Express captain pay is estimated at about $129K per year, pre-tax. These are our own estimates from public information, not figures the airline publishes.

HK Express first officer pay is estimated at about $72K per year, pre-tax, rising with seniority.

Captain / First Officer — A320/A321 — East Asia routes. Key requirements: License: ATPL (ICAO/CASL); Type: A320 type preferred. The airline’s second officer vacancy (posted 3 September 2025) asks for a CPL with multi-engine instrument rating (250 hours or more), or a CPL from an approved integrated course, and a Class 1 medical.

Dividing our estimated annual figures by 12, HK Express captains earn about $11K a month and first officers about $6K. What actually lands each month moves with block hours flown, and where an annual bonus is paid the regular monthly figure sits lower with a spike in the bonus month.

We estimate HK Express first officers at $72K and captains at $129K — a step of about $57K, or roughly 1.8×. The actual figure moves with seniority, type rating and the routes you fly.

Every figure on this page is gross, before income tax. We estimate captains at $129K and first officers at $72K pre-tax, and income tax, social insurance and any local levies come out of that. Take-home depends on where you are resident and on your own deductions, so no single percentage applies. Airlines based in countries with no personal income tax — the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia — leave more of the same gross figure in your hand.