CX100 SYD-HKG A333 (33E) B-LAK
Cathay flies nasty two class A340s into Auckland during the southern winter. On an AONE4 all two class no First aircraft I define as nasty. Plus, the A340s run with CX’s herringbone J product. I’m not a fan of herringbone generally. And especially not the narrow CX version of it. As one CX crew member told me on this trip, “those aren’t seats, they’re coffins”. The product got so many complaints from people that the airline started to develop a new product pretty much straight away, which took them four years to bring to fruition and which it’s finally started rolling out. Since going live, the new seat’s been really talked up and gotten rave reviews on FT and elsewhere. And it just so happened that the new product goes twice (on some days thrice) daily to Sydney.
Perfectly logical, then, to make what would have been an AKL-HKG an AKL-SYD-HKG. Unfortunately the QF connections to CX in SYD are not ideal. In fact QF seems to have timed all of their flights AKL-SYD to perfectly just fall under MCT. The best connection to CX100 was a 8am flight ex-AKL.
Yes, I like airports. But as anyone who’s ever tried to decode a fare rule knows, there are exceptions to every rule. For me, Sydney is an exception. I’ve been to the airport enough times that I don’t like it anymore. It’s old. And tired. And cramped. And like all airports in the modern world nowadays, seems to be a shopping mall first and an airport second. Plus, since this was a J day, there would be no QF F lounge access for me. Add in the fact that the best connection was an 8 am Jetconnect departure, I had a bed for the night in Sydney and that I really like my sleep, it wasn’t that hard a decision to decide to go a day early on the Qantas mainline A332.
Sydney Airport used to be really awful for queues. It still is. Thankfully, a few years ago they put in express lanes for premium passengers. I have no idea whether this is because of successful lobbying by airlines. Or if Macquarie Airports thought it would be a good revenue spinner to charge airlines for every passenger who used fast track. I don’t care. As long as I don’t have to line up for an hour just waiting to clear passport control. Of course, it would be even better if Australia whacked in a few Smartgate machines for departures like in New Zealand, but given my track record with their arrivals smartgates perhaps sticking to manual express path clearance is a speedier idea.
Qantas used to have a really miserable lounge at Sydney Airport. It was in a basement. Below departures level anyway. You went down an escalator into this large gloomy room. Though my impressions of it might have been infected by the fact that I was always on a night flight out of Sydney. Even if there was a view (which I think there was), the darkness rendered it unseeable.
Unlike Sydney Airport, where queues continue to be awful if you don’t have a antipodean passport or are travelling in the big seats, Qantas actually did something about their underground cavern. They relocated the lounge to the upper mezzanine a number of years ago now. And then they promptly ripped out the F section and loaded it on top of the J class lounge space now. It does mean that there’s still not much of a view. A rooftop and the struts supporting the F lounge above. And on the day of my flight, of some people in bright yellow fluorescent jerkins crawling around on the roof with clipboards in their hands. It was almost as much fun trying to guess what they were doing than it was sneaking surreptitious shots of the lounge.
The lounge was busy but not heaving, and the food options much better than anything which was being served either by Qantas in Auckland or in the air. I put together quite a nice little lunch plate of potato salad, some cold ham, bread rolls and cream of zucchini soup. If you were hungrier there was also two hot dishes of chicken and a mushroom pasta bake.
There is also something called Island Dining where you can get the plate of the day by perching at the island tables that run the centre of the lounge. And while we were in the main lounge area a lounge host came out with glasses of freshly blended rock melon, pineapple and watermelon juice. It was very refreshing, but the way it was served was odd. If you weren’t in the right place at the right time you were out of luck. Keep an eye out for it.
Qantas run First Class between Sydney and Hong Kong. CX doesn’t. Why then, did I choose to fly Cathay instead of Qantas given I was on an AONE?
Easy. Cathay Pacific is my favouritest airline.
We each have our own preferences which make our favourite airline our favourite. The seat. The food. The facilities on the ground. For me, what makes CX stand out is the crew. I know that I’ll get a base minimum. Manual trained, manual delivered. But 8 times out of 10, if not more, I get a crew which go above and beyond that. When I step foot on board a Cathay plane I feel comfortable.
I like that.
First impressions of the new cabin were good. On the Airbus the product is arranged in a 1-2-1 layout with the seats angled slightly towards the window. There’s plenty of space on the side to put the bits and bobs that come with travelling, though you want to be careful on takeoff because there’s no edge at the end of the side table. Takeoff thrust could see your belongings flying into the passenger behind you.
The standard CX formula was delivered: pre takeoff drinks, hot towel, take off. Menus were delivered and orders taken for post takeoff drinks.
Lunch
Starters
Smoked salmon, seared scallop and prawn with crème
fraiche, peppered mayonnaise and mango salsa
Mixed salad with French vinaigrette
Main Courses
High country pork loin with celeriac puree, roasted
carrots and asparagus, apple and onion compote
Three cup chicken with steamed rice and mixed
vegetables
Chermoula coated snapper with vegetable tagine,
cous cous and broccolini
Goat cheese tortellini with cherry tomato and basil
ragout and Parmesan
Cheese and Dessert
Maffra Sage Derby, Jindi Blue, Tasmanian Heritage Brie
Fresh seasonal fruit
Chocolate raspberry gateau
Tea and Coffee
Pralines
Wine List
Champagne
Champagne Deutz, Brut Classic
White Wines
Mountadam Vineyard Eden Valley Riesling 2009
Domaine des Malandes Chablis 2009
Red Wines
Chateau de Maison Neuve Montagne Saint-Emilion 2009
Tyrrell’s Wines Hunter Valley Brokenback Shiraz 2007
Port
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2006
Aperitifs and Cocktails
Gin, Rum, Vodka, Martini Rosso, Martini Extra Dry, Campari, Sweet and Dry Sherry, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver
Whiskies
Chivas Regal 12 Years Old, Johnnie Walker Gold Label, Jack Daniel’s, Canadian Club
Cognac
Hine ‘Rare and Delicate’ Fine Champagne
Liqueurs
Drambuie, Cointreau, Bailey’s Irish Cream
Beer
International selection
Signature Drinks
Oriental Breeze
A sour plum tea and cranberry juice based non-alcoholic drink with honey and fresh lemon juice and a hint of rose water
Cloud Nine
A refreshing combination of Vodka, Cointreau and Sprite with a refreshing touch of lemon flavour
I started lunch with a Cloud Nine and nuts. Unfortunately the days of the cashew nuts are long gone; instead we had a combination of almonds, macadamias and walnuts, listed here by me in decreasing order of like.
There isn’t much to say about the starter, other than it was tasty; as was the side salad and the garlic bread.
Mains were served by trolley, with a purser replenishing the offerings every couple of rows so the meals stayed hot. This gave you a chance to eyeball what was on offer rather than just deciding off the description on the menu. All of the options looked better than what was dished up on my previous QF flight. This is the chicken. Yes, the casserole dish is a bit naff. But it fits on the tray, you see. And the tray fits on the table. So you can pretty much forget CX going back to mains on a plate for a while. Me personally, as long as the food is hot and tasty I don’t care whether it comes in a casserole dish or a plate. (I do draw the line at serving it up in a plastic reheating container, though).
There are some threads on Flyertalk which crop up in every forum. “Will my flight XXX have the new seats” is a classic. So, apparently, is whether the airline in question has a “cheese OR dessert” or a “cheese AND dessert” policy. On CX there’s no argument it’s the latter; the cheese and fruit cart is rolled by first before the crew pass through the cabin again with dessert.
Dessert comes with a spork. That’s seriously cool. If only because how many times in writing prose do you often get to use the word “spork”?
CX are on to a winner with their new Business Class product. It’s superb. There’s great cushioning and a really spacious feel. There are some niggles. The shoe locker wasn’t big enough for my shoes and when I tried to tuck them under the seat I almost jammed the seat mechanism in recline. The legrest is a bit short for taller passengers. The television which swings out can’t be tilted up or down to adjust for the seat in a reclined position. But on the main points; sleeping, reclining, upright the seat hits all the right notes.
Also loved by me is the doing away of the old staticky blanket. With the seat in full flat position, the armrest down and a nice warm duvet to snuggle under I managed two hours of straight sleep which was uninterrupted by noises from people walking past in the aisle or by duty free falling on my head from the overhead lockers above. You laugh. But these seem to be the two most serious worries that people have about the new seat judging by the posts on the CX forum.
Two hours out from Hong Kong the lights were switched on for the second meal service.
Refreshment
Starter
Fresh seasonal fruit
Noodle Soup and Savouries
Roasted duck in noodle soup
Beef and guiness pie with mushroom and tomato
Ho fun noodles with chicken and shiitake mushroom
Ice Cream
Tea and Coffee
CX really love their fruit. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, fruit will make its presence somewhere. Not that I’m complaining. I like fruit. And the way CX serve it, chilled and precut, can be quite refreshing. I like the fact that you’re not expected to peel your own fruit like on some other Asian airlines (cough SQ uncough). Mainly because I’m totally unco. The prospect of peeling an apple on the ground is scary enough. I don’t really want to be doing it while bumping through equatorial skies over Indonesia.
Of course, all of this relies on choosing the right fruit. There’s usually melon. Pineapple. Strawberry, maybe. Kiwifruit. If you’re really lucky, mango. If you’re really unlucky, papaya. Or tomato. Kidding. Not even the most ardent tomato fan would serve it up with pineapple. At least I hope not.
Today’s fruit plate may have looked good (aside from the strawberry) and it was one of those times where the book matched the cover (aside from the strawberry).
The noodle soup had gone somewhat lukewarm by the time the cart got to where I was, and I’m not sure where they got the roasted duck. Maybe from the worst Chinese BBQ shop in Chinatown. Or maybe from whoever caters for QF.
They were a bit more adventurous with the ice cream flavours for dessert, which made a nice change from the Haagen-Dazs vanilla/strawberry/ice cream flavour beginning with C options which are always served out of Hong Kong. Today we had burnt fig, honeycomb and caramel; elderflower and vanilla; or passionfruit.
We then began our descent and landed at precisely 21.01, 34 minutes ahead of schedule... and yeah, you don’t care. Neither do I.
Overall, a great flight on a great product. I did feel a bit for the significant number of passengers who were connecting on to Europe, which is currently almost all served by the coffin herringbone seats. It’s a big step down in product comfort. On the other hand, the pax in rows 11 and 12 took their sweet time hanging about in the aisle gathering up all their belongings, and blocking my exit, so any sympathy I had towards them spending the next 12 hours in a substandard product quickly evaporated. I hate people who get in my way. You probably figured that out already.
Next up: I do some turnarounds to max out my 16 sectors. Five Flights, Two Days. With eight meals in a row catered by Cathay Pacific. Stay tuned...