Hong Kong Express (UO, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) will take its first tentative steps following its reinvention into a Low Cost Carrier when parent, Hong Kong Airlines (HX, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok), transfers its Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok to Kunming Changshui and Kota Kinabalu routes to it in June and July respectively. Flights will be operated using Hong Kong Express' two A320-200s, B-LPB (c/n 4970) and B-LPH (c/n 5341).

Hong Kong Airlines (HX, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) has leased two Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) A320-200s, B-LPB (c/n 4970) and B-LPH (c/n 5341), to Hong Kong Express (UO, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) in preparation for the latter's metamorphosis into a Low Cost Carrier (LCC). Once the change is complete and a suitable route network and corporate structure for Hong Kong Express have been settled on, it is expected that Hong Kong Airlines will transfer more A320s to its subsidiary to help bolster its operations. According to Hong Kong press reports, a renewed Hong Kong Airlines is due in the skies in either late Q3 or early Q4 of this year.

Hong Kong Express (UO, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) plans to transform itself into a budget airline this year, with plans to be unveiled in late May. Overall, the transformation from a full-service carrier into an LCC is expected to be complete come Q3 of this year. According to company president, Yang Jianhong, the move was precipitated by the global economic slowdown which has weakened demand for premier-class products while at the same time creating "rapid growth potential for budget carrier services" in the region. In preparation for the launch, parent Hong Kong Airlines (HX, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) has put two Airbus A320-200s at Hong Kong Express' disposal. While no exact routes or markets have been identified, Hong Kong Express has rights to fly to "most of Asia's major cities". It currently operates flights between Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok and Beijing Capital, Guilin, Nanning, Sanya and Taichung Ching Chuan Kang. Competition will come in the form of JetStar Hong Kong (Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok), an LCC joint venture between Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingford Smith) and China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao), whose planned launch at the end of this year is still awaiting approval from the city's aviation regulator.

Hong Kong Airlines (HX, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) will on April 25, replace its last B737-800, (B-KBR / MSN 35276), with an Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) A320-200 turning the carrier into an exclusively Airbus-equipped airline. The aircraft currently plies the daily Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok to Chengdu and Nanjing route.

Hong Kong Express (UO, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) will be transformed into Hong Kong Airlines (HX, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok)'s low-cost carrier during the course of 2013 according to statements made by Hong Kong Airlines president Yang Jianhong. Hong Kong Express currently operates three B737-800s and offers daily flights to Beijing Capital, Nanning, Okinawa Naha and Taichung Ching Chuan Kang in cooperation with Hong Kong Airlines. The carriers currently share their fleets with Hong Kong Airlines A320-200s and A330-200s being used on HKE's two Chinese routes for example.