I know CX is the internationally renowned one of the pair, and KA is the little sibling barely known outside China, but on my weekly travels between PEK and HKG, on which both airlines fly, I have consistently found the KA service and experience superior.

Why:
- 2-4-2 cabins in Economy as opposed to often 3-3-3 on CX
- Almost always get a visit from the purser in economy as OW Sapphire, less than 50-50 on CX although some crews on both are excellent
- Better food options in both cabins. In KA the dim sum breakfast and the meal trolley during the day always seem excellent. By contrast, when travelling economy on CX a couple of weeks ago i picked up a business menu while waiting to get off and noticed the options were identical to the economy meals
- Haagen Dazs on KA (I'm easily pleased I know)
- KA crews better equipped to deal with what we might call the inexperienced travellers on mainland routes, compared to a sometimes snooty approach which doesn't work in CX

For me the only plus side of CX is the availability of Premium Economy (which is often empty) on one of the daily rotations.

Would be interested in what others think?

Couldn't agree more -- from the perspective of Oneworld Elite flying in shorthaul Y.

I have flown PVG-HKG multiple times and now always choose KA over CX if possible. On routes where only CX operates such as HKG-BKK, I only wish KA were available

The only thing going for CX is they have proper J (and occasionally F) product, but again not meaningful for a 2-hour flight...

KA experience is in general superior to CX for SH (specially in the food area), as well as overall crew service.

Alas, Gone are the days of the "The Elite", which I found had much better benefits than MPC, better opp up rate, and less high tier members.

The only downsides:

-a few very late and long evening flights that are attrocious either in Y or J (DAC comes to mind), bad timing makes it impossible to sleep, and no lounge at HKG on arrival. Incredible that CX closes its lounges at night!!!!

-the new "potato bag" uniforms that will never look good on any living thing.

- G16.

Sad to see the Dragonair brand dissapearing. This whole "Cathay Dragon" sounds like a bad joke.