B-HXB

Flight: CX118
Aircraft: Airbus 340-300, B-HXA
Departure time: 0910
Departure gate: 10
Sector: HKG AKL

Check-in for Cathay Pacific First and Business Class customers at Auckland International Airport is located inside the Qantas Premium Check-in facility, a separate enclosed room at the east end of the check-in hall. There were two CX desks open and one QF desk. Surprisingly, as this was supposed to be a full flight, there was no queue for the CX counters so I walked right up to the sign and waited for a counter to open.

As it turned out, there was no queue because all the CX pax were lining up for the Qantas check-in desk, a mistake I don’t see how anyone can make given there are clear signs posted with the CX logo plastered all over it. To cut a long story short, I was heckled by this particularly irritated gentleman who regarded me as a queue jumper, but the check-in agent motioned me forward anyway, which caused the heckler to start yelling at her.

The check-in agent recognised me and I gestured with my head at the guy still yelling behind me as I gave her my documents in an unspoken ‘Can you believe him’. She smiled and said “Ah, all in a day’s work” as she slotted my boarding pass into the machine and handed it to me along with my lounge invitation and baggage receipt.

I headed to the counter at the back of the facility for Passport Control before proceeding upstairs to the departure level. Luckily I had already prepaid my $22 departure tax with my travel agent and there was no need to get the sticker from the BNZ. Passport Control for normal passengers was a nightmare of queues; luckily my Express Lane sticker entitled me to a Fast Track-type system where the Customs officer only had to quickly check I had indeed already ‘left the country’.

Cathay Pacific uses the Qantas Oneworld lounge at Auckland (misspelt on the lounge invitation as ‘Onewolrd’) and the agent took my invitation and directed me to the First Class lounge located on the left. Essentially, the lounge is just a smaller version of the Business Class lounge, from the buffet to the bathrooms to the computer centre to the seating! The Air NZ lounge has taken all the plum views and we are left with a roof, the end of runway 23 and the tail of the aircraft at gate 1.

While there was a good selection of drinks, the food mainly consisted of some cold cuts, bread, bakery items and fruit. The bathrooms were clean and spacious, and the lounge seating was comfortable.

I left the lounge a little earlier as CX118 was boarding through gate 10, at the end of the concourse and I wanted to take my time. As I exited the First Class part of the lounge and passed reception, the agent called out to me, “It’s gate 10 today, but they haven’t started boarding yet.” Impressive!

Gate 10 is located inside the ‘secondary security checkpoint’ zone at AKL but the checkpoints were not in operation today as our flight doesn’t require a secondary inspection at the gate. I was pleased to note that there were two boarding machines, and one was roped off with a sign indicating it was for First and Business Class passengers, and Marco Polo members only.

As I approached, there was a boarding call for rows 54 to 71, which meant next to nothing as most of the gate lounge immediately started lunging from their seats. The CX staff tried to explain the boarding system to the passengers but it got very confusing as the gate lounge is very cramped near the boarding area. I left them to it and proceeded to the checkpoint, where the agent from check-in was manning my machine. She took my boarding pass and fed it through, handed it back to me and wished me a pleasant flight.

Gate 10 is door 1L boarding for the Airbus 340. The Inflight Service Manager (ISM) and a Senior Purser were greeting passengers at the door. Just before reaching the door I realised that I had had this Senior Purser on a flight a few months back and as she took my boarding pass she exclaimed, “Mrs B-HXB! How nice to see you again!” which was truly amazing given the amount of passengers these flight pursers must see during the course of their job!

She escorted me to my seat and I obstructed traffic briefly as I pushed my roll-on into the overhead compartments, which are very spacious. A strange thing is that there are no compartments above the centre aisle seats, but there is ample storage space for eight passengers.

The senior purser came by to ask me if I would like a pre-flight drink, and my glass of water was delivered promptly. No canapé on today’s service, although I didn’t really mind because I seldom eat it, anyway.

All 8 seats were occupied today; indeed the entire flight was full.

After the flow of passengers subsided a bit, the crew came around to distribute newspapers and magazines, amenity kits (stocked with La Prairie products, a comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, earplugs, gauze and cotton tips, mouthwash and a gift, this time a makeup brush), sleeper suits, slippers and eyeshades. Glasses were collected for takeoff as ISM Bebs came on to introduce herself, and then the captain advised us of our flight conditions. The safety video started playing on our individual screens as we pushed back from the gate.

The crew became somewhat paranoid about securing loose objects for takeoff; even coming around with plastic bags to put our shoes in (for those of us who had already kicked them off) and popping them in the overhead compartment. Nothing was immune, even the amenities kit had to be secured. Luckily the new First Class seat has plenty of storage pockets but it seemed to me all this securing was a bit over the top!

The crew passed around menus as soon as we had hit 10,000 feet. CX have four different menu cover designs for First Class (all of food) and the scheme is a predominantly red and white one; the red being the same colour CX uses on their boarding pass for First Class.

BRUNCH

Juices
Fresh Orange Juice, Fresh Grapefruit Juice or Raspberry Smoothie Drink

Appetiser
Fresh Seasonal Fruits

Main Courses
Spanish Omelette
Miso Glazed Chicken with Mushrooms and Lotus Root
Steak and Mushrooms Pie

Accompaniments
Grilled Smoked Pork Loin, Rosti Potatoes, Egg Fried Rice, Baked Vine Ripened Tomato, Sauteed Button Mushrooms

From the Bakery
Croissants, Danish Pastries, Muffins, Bread Rolls and Wasa Crackers
Served with Preserves, Honey and Butter

Tea and Coffee

The First Class Purser came around to take brunch orders. I brought up the interactive menu on the StudioCX AVOD system. There was a wide range of movies and short features, except everyone had to sit through one of those awful ‘Please-do-these-exercises-inflight-so-you-won’t-get-DVT-and-we-won’t-get-sued’ videos involving the most ridiculous exercises such as rolling your foot. The only part of my body I was rolling during this was my eyes.

The headsets are located in the armrest, already plugged in. They are not like the New Business Class ones, rather like ‘normal’ headsets except the noise-cancelling function works. I noted when I travelled on B-HUB in January that the First Class headsets had been changed to the New Business Class ones – I don’t like those as they tend to be very stuffy and the actual headphone padding keeps falling off! But I digress.

The Senior Purser came around with the trolley loaded with the linen and tableware, and began setting the huge wooden-inlaid table. My glass of orange juice was poured on the spot, and when I took a sip of it, it actually turned out to be grapefruit juice (even though it was bright orange). I informed the Senior Purser, who picked up the bottle with a puzzled look, examined the label and gave a soft yelp when she saw ‘Grapefruit’ on it. She apologised and quickly whisked my glass away, telling the First Class Purser to find a bottle of orange juice.

My fruit appetiser arrived and I tucked in. There was nothing special in it; just the usual strawberry, kiwifruit, orange etc. but it was very refreshing. This was followed quickly by the pie, which was impossibly small and was eaten in three bites flat. However, the crew were more than happy to heat up another second helping for me. Accompanying the meal was a mini-bread basket containing one of each of the items on the menu, which came with a small dish with two pats of butter, and your choice of spread.

After breakfast was cleared away most passengers seemed content to browse the AVOD system but the crew decided to get the duvets out. Due to space constraints on the A340, duvet storage is in the black side lockers running the length of the First Class cabin on both sides of the aircraft. Unfortunately, the only way to access these lockers is for the crew to physically step into your little ‘space’ and fiddle with the catches. While it is inconvenient, especially as the crew have to constantly apologise, the AVOD system has a ‘Pause’ key so no PTV time is lost. However, I think it might have been easier if CX had put the duvets in the overhead compartments, and to allow the side lockers for passengers seated there to store their carry-ons.

I watched a couple of movies (thankfully the StudioCX system didn’t crash) and then reclined my seat into the bed position to catch some of the lost sleep purely due to the 7am reporting time at the airport. I tell you, I am getting completely spoiled by Cathay’s First Class seat, which is extremely comfortable. Add the pillow and the duvet, and a crew more than willing to help, the word ‘pampered’ comes to mind.

The bathrooms on the A340 are rather inconvenient. The toilet passengers are supposed to use is located forward of 1K, on the right hand side of the aircraft. Because there is a dividing wall down the centre between the D and G seats, passengers in A and D have to pass through the galley to access the toilets. There is a bathroom located on the left behind the cockpit – it depends on the crew as to if passengers are allowed to use it or not. Some view it as just another bathroom for passengers, others try to direct you to the other one wherever possible and some stop you from using it at all. Today’s crew fell into the category of ‘use whichever bathroom you want to’ which was nice.

I woke up feeling rather peckish, and rather lazily rang the call button instead of getting up to find a flight attendant. To her credit, the Senior Purser came out from the galley straight away and was more than happy to heat up a bowl of noodles for me, along with a glass of apple juice.

REFRESHMENT
To meet the individual tastes and preferences of all our passengers, we have a selection of refreshments as a complement or as an alternative to our regular meals. The following selection is available at any time on request.

Noodle Soup
Shanghainese Noodles with Prawns, Chinese Cabbage and Mushrooms in Soup

Selection of Sandwiches
Smoked Salmon, Ham and Char-grilled Vegetables, Char-grilled Vegetables

Ice Cream

Tea and Coffee

The obligatory laying of the white tablecloth preceded the arrival of my steaming bowl of noodles, which came with a ceramic Chinese spoon and a pair of wooden chopsticks. Mmmm-mmmm, the noodles smelt heavenly and they tasted delicious as well!

However, the contents of the bowl didn’t sate my hunger for long; about another hour into the flight I needed something to munch on again, and asked the First Class Purser about the sandwiches. She was unsure about the selection (there was no mention of the fillings in the menu) so she darted back to the galley to get the crew catering list, which duly informed her (and me) of the selection (reproduced above). I opted for the smoked salmon. The sandwiches were open faced, with a generous serving of smoked salmon atop a small square of bread liberally covered in some sort of creamy cheese substance, which I scraped off.

The remainder of the time until the Lunch service was pleasantly spent, thanks to the AVOD feature on StudioCX which worked like a dream.

Lunch commenced with a hot towel service, then the flight pursers began taking orders. The laying of linen, cutlery and associated culinary paraphernalia followed. An offer of a drink with a bowl of pistachio nuts was taken with the main meal order. CX seems to alternate between almonds, pistachios and honey-roasted cashews (which regrettably I haven’t seen for a while now).

LUNCH

Savoury

Appetiser
New Zealand King Smoked Salmon with Ikuru Caviar

Soup and Salad
Carrots and Chick Pea Soup flavoured with Coriander
Caesar Salad

Main Courses
Roasted New Zealand Lamb Loin in Pepper Crust with Port Wine Sauce
served with Gratinated Potatoes, Oven-roasted Vegetables with Mild Garlic and Thyme

Kung Po Chicken
served with Steamed Rice and Pak Choy with Ginger

Penne Pasta in Roasted Red Capsicum Sauce with Ratatouille and Basil Pesto

Cheese Board
International Cheese Selection

Dessert Selection
Tropical Fruit Salad
Pina Colada Ice Cream served with Whipped Cream
Lime and Coconut Cake served with Passionfruit Coulis with Orange Segment
Brioche and Apricot Butter Pudding served with Cinnamon Anglaise Sauce

Bread Basket
Oven-baked Assorted Bread and Rolls served with Butter

Tea and Coffee

Pralines and Cookies

The savouries were presented on a flat-top trolley and passengers could choose which ones they wanted to have. All passengers were presented with the Appetiser, which I’ve never had happen before but my second helping of smoked salmon of the day was very nice.

Various other passengers in the cabin had opted for the soup and salad but I elected to jump straight to the main. Even so, I received it along with the other passengers in the cabin as I had requested a bowl of rice to accompany it, which the pursers had to make in the galley. There is absolutely nothing like having freshly made rice in the air – for some reason it tastes even better than on the ground!

During the interval the bread basket was brought around – as usual there was a wide variety of bread and rolls, and I had a soft roll and a piece of garlic bread.

I opted for the tropical fruit salad for dessert, which was brought to me from the galley along with a small fork and a spoon. As the senior purser tidied everything away, I asked for a cup of tea. The whole teapot, a cup and saucer, a bowl of sugar, a dish containing two lemon slices, a tiny jug of milk and a teaspoon were brought to me on a small oval red tray, along with a dish containing thin almond biscuits. After the crew had finished clearing away all the passengers’ dishes, they brought a box of pralines around the cabin.

The rest of the flight was taken up with watching a couple of sitcoms on StudioCX. About 45 minutes out of Hong Kong, the connecting and arrivals information flashed on the Airshow Channel – gate 1 arrival today. The HKIA arrivals video was played and crew began collecting the duvets and tidying up for landing.

The flight crew and ISM came on to give details about the time and weather, and to advise our final approach into Hong Kong. Twenty minutes from landing, the crew ran a hot towel service.

Touchdown was uneventful on 07L. The apron on the ‘odds’ side of the Central Concourse was extremely busy. Tailing us was a China Airlines 747-400 coming in to 27, and a Swiss MD-11 coming in to 21. Both were held up on the inner taxiway by a Dragonair A330 pushing back from 25, but we simply rolled right past on the outer taxiway before turning in to the 1-2-3-4 part of the apron, which meant we docked well before the other two flights.

I pulled my carryon from the overhead and walked to door 1L where the Senior Purser greeted me cheerfully by name, telling me that “it’s a close gate today! Not much walking!” and a little story involving how the captain had come out of the cockpit just before descent to ask the flight pursers what gate they wanted. Apparently the flight pursers chanted “one, one, one!” to which the captain replied “We’ll see what we can do”. She also commented that we were the only “little plane” at the frontal preferred gates; indeed gates 2, 3 and 4 were Boeing 747-400s readying for the North American flights (B-HXA was due out for Toronto).

The airbridge attached itself, the ISM did the usual consultation with the ground staff and it was farewells from the crew all around as I followed the CX ground agent up the bridge and down to the Level 5 arrivals. Immigration was swift and painless. There was a short wait for the bags as we had gotten a close gate (my experience is that the bags are always out before you are when the gate is far away) but the ISM, who also had to wait for baggage, joined me at the carousel and we had a nice chat. She was flying out to the Philippines the next day – a pretty gruelling schedule.

My bag was among the first to come off, thanks to the First Class Priority Tag and I exchanged goodbyes with the ISM. Customs was a stroll-through and it was off to catch the Airport Express into Central Hong Kong.

Summary and Scorecard
(Scores in each category are now marked out of a different total, to ensure there is more of a balanced weighting according to the experience inflight.)

First Class Seat and Product (20)
Score: 18
The New First Class in the Boeing 747-400 has been faithfully reproduced in the Airbus 340-300. The soothing features such as the green upholstery, wood inlay and consoles, the picture at the front of the cabin and the CX brushwing at the back have all been kept. Downside is that due to the space restriction on the Airbus: keeping the duvets in the side lockers and a bit of a hassle in getting to the bathroom. I also like the fact that the B747 has a workstation table for newspapers, bottles of water etc. which the A340 unfortunately lacks.

Inflight Entertainment (20)
Score: 19
There were a wide range of movies, TV programmes and audio channels to choose from. Airshow could be accompanied by your choice of audio channel. The StudioCX navigation bar was extremely user-friendly and the retractable handset was useful. A particular plus point were the excellent noise-cancelling headsets which were already plugged into the seat. The only negative was that the system has a few teething problems right at the beginning of the flight and that there are way too many ads played before your feature actually starts (although with the help of the Fast Forward button this was easily solved!)

Ground Service and Lounge (15)
Score: 13
Every agent I encountered on the ground at AKL was friendly, from the CX check-in agent to the QF lounge agent. The lounge was disappointing only in the food aspect, and the view. Otherwise it was a very nice lounge, certainly much nicer than the squashed little broom closet CX used to have at Auckland (a long long LONG time ago). It would be nice if CX could open another check-in desk downstairs for Business Class passengers as a lot of MPO members are entitled to use these facilities as well.

Service and Cabin Attendants (25)
Score: 24
Both flight pursers were efficient at their job and willing to help. Their smiles and attitude made the flight that much more pleasant. Little details, such as the Senior Purser recognising me, and the ISM chatting with me at baggage claim when she could have completely ignored me are appreciated. A brilliant crew who deserve top marks.

Catering (20)
Score: 19
All the food served was delicious and there was a wide variety to choose from. Servings were perhaps a little small but with the crew more than willing to offer you second and third helpings, this was not a problem!

Grand total is 93 out of 100 (93%). The whole Cathay Pacific First Class experience is wonderful, but it is the crew which really makes the flight comfortable, enjoyable and memorable; and shows why the airline’s slogan is “Now you’re really flying”.

[This message has been edited by B-HXB (edited Dec 05, 2003).]

pallensf

Once again - fantastic report!

:-)

------------------
Patrick A. Inouye, CMT
volunteer trip reports moderator

JHIN

CX...just luv them and a great trip report. What every other airline should aspire to be.

number_6

You should try one of CX's very (very) fine Chinese teas, as you seem to appreciate tea. You won't get the "British" serving style (it is done Chinese style), but you will get a really fine tea. Something like a Fuding Jasmine though there are stronger ones also available. My first exposure to fine Chinese tea was on CX, and I've since stocked up at home (and discovered that fine tea costs USD100 per pound, and up).
You don't mention it, but one of the special touches in CX service is the way they serve the glasses ... the CX logo is always facing you. The really fine crews will serve the glass with one fluid motion, and the logo is always on the right side (I could never be a CX flight attendant, the job is beyond my capabilities, luckily I get to sit in the F cabin and admire the performance). There are a dozen other touches like this -- and CX knows most passengers never notice, yet they do it just for the sake of perfection. I like to think that the mechanics working on the engines have the same attention to detail, and that there is a difference between airlines.

flamboyant 1

another splendid report.
IMO the Air NZ Lounge in AKL is very nice. Good design, view, size, free computers...
Only the bar could be stocked with better products but it is still fine.

TWAforever

Great report...Thanks!!!

IndyDavid

Hilarious! Many thanks for an enjoyable & informative report.

David

Buster CT1K

Another fantastic report! You're truly an FT asset, Mrs Steele!

mad_atta

Fabulous report, B-HXB, thanks!

How did you manage this? I've never been able to pre-pay NZ departure tax, and it is a constant source of irritation to me!

B-HXB

I have absolutely no idea, my travel agent arranges for the sticker to be put on my ticket each time one's issued. I can sympathise with you though - one time travelling with my nephew we had to stand in line for 10 minutes just to get a stupid exemption sticker. This system really is outdated and a big pain.

RTW4

I took the afternoon flight in Dec from AKL-HKG. The food was absolutely incredible. The caviar and salmon were fabulous, and the AVOD with Studio CX system was wonderful. Incidentally, the vanilla ice cream with tropical fruits was one of the best desserts that I have ever had

number_6

I've had tickets issued by CX, AA and American Express that were all prepaid (just like most countries in the world!) ... I assumed the system had changed and this was now the norm in NZ ... at least for early 2002 onwards. I don't recall any special comment about it by either the ticket issuer or at AKL (tickets issued by CX in HKG and the others in US, none in NZ). Maybe they don't do this for NZ/Aust issued tickets? Which would be very strange, indeed (but that seems to be how the tax works).