In the past few months I've had to make a couple of trips from London to Hong Kong. Both in business class, one on Cathay Pacific, the other on British Airways. I thought a quick comparison might be of interest....

I flew a quick round-trip LHR-HKG in January 2013, CX J class. Quite a lot has been written about the airline so I’ll just run through some headline points.
Friendly staff at Heathrow who just seemed to “get it” with regard to customer service. This was both at the ticketing desk and also in the lounge. T3 in general sucks – especially the trek through duty free – but the CX lounge was very good– a little smaller than I was thinking it would be, but the made to order noodles are a nice touch.

Boarding was just one airbridge but they obviously didn’t call the flight in the lounge until other passengers had boarded, so no hanging around.
Upper deck on the 747 with the coffin seats is plain odd. As has been widely reported, that remains an epic fail by Cathay.

Only one round of pre-flight drinks. Was very impressed with Aer Lingus who just kept the glasses topped up before taking off from Dublin last year.
Food was OK – I had the Szechuan chicken but it wasn’t really all that spicy. I was also left feeling a bit hungry afterwards – the portion wasn’t all that big.
Sleep quality – not great. I found the seat uncomfortable, a bit hard and my feet kept hanging off the end, resulting in a couple of collisions with passengers, waking me up and giving them a bit of a surprise, too!
Arrival into HKG – we were late landing but obviously just got in before the mad rush that starts at 5pm and I was through immigration in a couple of minutes.

On the return, I arrived on the ferry from Macau. Hong Kong airport is confusing to navigate in that ‘hub’ at the base of the main pier. This time I did want to do some shopping but it took ages to find the right stores, although the information desk were very helpful!

The first contact I had with CX staff was at the entrance to the lounge – I elected to use the Cabin as we were going from gate 29. It was busy and has a cramped feeling to it. I’m sure they could do more with the deli offering, and the hot food was pretty poor. I think when you have a flash airport it can be difficult for the lounges to match expectations, but I will say I think that BA has achieved this in Terminal 5.

Dual airbridges to board this 777 flight, with the new business class seats^. A vast improvement over the previous iteration, but I don’t think comparisons with F on other airlines are accurate. The seat is again on the hard side, you don’t have the same amount of personal space (although the shelf between me and the window is nice) and ultimately it’s still business class. The orchids are however a classy touch!

Uninspiring lunch menu – the lamb was the only thing that appealed to me but the casserole presentation didn’t win any points. At least it was tender and packed full of flavour, however the starter was poor, as was the salad. The Garlic bread was cold, and so was the red wine!

Again, crew keeping out of the way – to manage the jetlag I’m trying not to sleep on this flight (nasty daytime Asia -> UK sector) but there’s not much service. Has been one pass asking for snacks, but again the extra privacy of these seats means you can’t easily make eye contact with the crew.

So the best bit? I’d say the lounge at Heathrow. The worst? That’s a draw between the coffin seats on the 747 and the Cabin lounge. Oh, and of course the fact that we can hop on a plane and fly six thousand miles in a fair degree of comfort in a matter of hours probably shouldn’t go without mention either.
=============

So a few months later (April 2013) and I find myself doing the same journey, but this time on BA and rather than on my own, my wife came along too. Friendly BA staff at Heathrow for the quick visa check, and fast track security (South) was indeed fast – a couple of people infront but it all kept moving along.

We made our way to Galleries South and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so quiet – 4pm on a Thursday. Enjoyed a couple of drinks then headed over to the B lounge when the gate came up. Bizarrely, I’ve never seen this place so busy! Left it until about 25 mins before departure, headed down to the gate & walked straight onto the plane, before settling into seats 64J&K on the upper deck.

One round of drinks before takeoff, then service started. Had the Hong Kong chicken for my main course – tasty and quite filling. Crew weren’t very engaged at all, though.

Sleep quality – the seats are definitely better than the Cathay coffins, but light & noise from the galley was a problem.

Breakfast was good, too. Had the full English – looked and tasted great!
We landed on time but only 1 airbridge in use. Parked at gate 19 so it’s a decent walk through the terminal. Also some menacing looking armed police hanging around by the end of the airbridge. It was just after 1pm, HKG immigration was very quiet and we were in a car heading to the hotel about 30 minutes after wheels down.

On the return we arrived at the airport around 8.45pm. We were directed to the first class check in as all the business desks were busy. Boarding passes issued quickly and we were on our way. No real hold up at immigration or security then we popped down to the Cathay Pacific lounge at Gate 2 – The Wing.

This was way better than The Cabin, which I’d found disappointing earlier in the year. Had a very refreshing shower and a drink then headed over to the BA gates. Fortunately found the secret corridor that cuts along the back of the duty free shops, saving a good few hundred metres of walking.

We could have dipped into the BA/Qantas lounge but there wasn’t really time and within minutes boarding was underway.

Dedicated airbridge for First & Business class so no hold up there and again we had the same seats on the upper deck.

Quick glass of champagne before an on time departure. I had what was described at the Nyonya chicken for dinner – a very creamy dish that I wish I’d avoided. Oh well, the cheesecake and the cheese & biscuits for desert made up for that! Crew better than on the outbound and at least we were addressed by name when they took the meal order, which is a nice touch.
Sleep quality was a bit better on the return as I ended up using the eye mask and earplugs. Dozed until about 40mins before landing, quick glass of juice then we were ready to land. Very quickly through immigration and into the arrivals lounge for a shower and some breakfast.

So the best bit? That Cathay lounge in Hong Kong was great, as was the ability to doze/sleep almost until we got to London.

Worst bits? Indifferent crew on the outbound and the meal I had on the way back to London.

Overall verdict – this has come in closer than I’d expected and I think BA may just nudge it as the winner.