Airline and Flight #

Cathay Pacific CX161

Aircraft

Airbus A330-300

Airport and Terminal

Departure: Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong| Terminal 1

Arrival: Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney NSW Australia | Terminal 1

Scheduled Departure Date and Time

Tuesday 12 July 2016| 9:30pm

Flying Time

9 hours 15 minutes

Luggage Allowance

Carry-on: Adults and children travelling in business class are allowed the following carry on luggage up to 7kg per piece:

• 1x115cm bag at 56cm (22in) x 36cm (14in) x 23cm (9in) and
• 1 small item that can fit under the seat in front and be no larger than 15cm (6in) x 30cm (12in) x 40cm (16in).  Such items can include a small handbag, laptop bag, small backpack, camera bag or briefcase.

Checked baggage: Most passengers have the following checked baggage allowances however there are a few destinations where the allowances are more or less depending on how far away they are:

• 30kg (66lb) – maximum 2 pieces.  For this flight we were allowed 2 bags weighing up to 23kg (50.7lbs) each with dimensions adding to 158cm (62 in).
• Total dimensions (length + width + height) = 203cm (80 in)
• If you are travelling with an infant without a booked seat for them, two pieces of luggage totalling up to 10kg (22lbs) plus a car seat and a stroller can be checked in on most flights.
• Infants with booked seats and children are entitled to the same luggage allowances as adults.
• More generous allowances are made for passengers travelling in a higher class or with a higher tier Marco Polo frequent flyer status.

Fun Facts

• Cathay Pacific is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance
• The airline was founded in Hong Kong back in 1946
• The airline commenced service with a single Douglas DC-3 nicknamed Betsy

Website

Cathay Pacific’s website is really well laid out with a great user-face making it easy to use and find what you’re looking for.  You can book one way, return or multi city flights as well as hotels or flight and hotel combinations.  When searching flights, prices are displayed for the dates chosen as well as days either side.  This is handy for when your dates are flexible allowing you to choose to fly on a cheaper day.  The results also show the price of the different class fares.  Clicking on view details brings up further information like airport and terminal numbers and the type of aircraft.  You can reserve your seat but if you’re flying Economy and haven’t reached the required tier frequent flyer membership there is a fee with the amount depending on the country you fly out of and your destination.  The website also contains information on a range of topics including frequent flyer programs, luggage requirements, check-in, preparing for your trip, airport details etc.

Check-in

Check-in can be done on-line, at the airport via the counter or self service kiosk or by downloading Cathay Pacific’s app. When checking in on-line enter your first and last name followed by your booking reference or E-ticket number.  Boarding passes can be sent to your mobile, printed at home or from the self-service kiosks at the airport. Check-in opens 24 hours up to 90 minutes prior to scheduled departure however if you have purchased your ticket directly from the Cathay Pacific website or are a Club/Asia Miles passenger, you can check in 48 hours prior to departure.

Seating

Layout – The Cathay Pacific is a wide bodied jet with 251 seats.  These are made up of 39 flat bed Business class seats, 21 Premium Economy recliner seats and 191 standard Economy class seats.  Economy is set out in a 2-4-2 configuration which I really like when you’re travelling with just one other person. We were seated in row 43 of 75,

Features – The seats are made from an attractive light blue cloth.  Each seat has adjustable head rests that you can adjust to support your neck better whilst sleeping.   The tray tables are folding and contain a cup holder so you don’t have to pull your tray down if you’re just having a drink.  The leg room was decent.

On each seat – There was a pillow and a blanket and a set of individually wrapped headphones.

Specs – Seat pitch 32 inches (81cm), seat width 18.5 inches (47cm), seat recline 6 inches (15cm)

Cabin Comfort

With a seating configuration of 2x4x2 rather than 3x4x3 there is definitely more room on board the A330-300.  The cabin feels less cramped and leg room is better.  It’s good not having an extra person to climb over if you want to leave your seat.

In-flight Entertainment

Electronic devices

• Electronic devices can be used whilst boarding using the aerobridge but not if you’re using the tarmac to board.
• Once doors on the plane have closed you need to then switch your device to flight mode.

Power

• There were two universal power plugs underneath each pair of seats
• USB power is available just below the entertainment screen

In the Seat Pocket

• Discovery magazine – containing articles, travel information and advertising
• Shop – duty free magazine
• Laminated safety card

WiFi

• There was no WiFi on this flight

Entertainment System

• Cathay Pacific uses Studio CX for its inflight entertainment.  This is offered through individual screens with the following menus to choose from:

1. Just added – a selection of new movies that have recently come out
2. Movie
3. TV
4. Music
5. Info
6. Game
7. Kids
8. Map – which contained a fairly basic moving flight map
9. Shop

Transfer information was displayed on the screen upon descent.

Catering

Menus

Cathay Pacific’s menus were very much on the plain side.  They were basically a piece of thick paper with Dinner and Breakfast printed on the front and the same on the back written in Cantonese.  There was no indication of when the meals would be served or anything else about the food other than a small note down the bottom to let us know the selection was from the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong along with an apology if your meal choice was not available.  I did notice there was a bigger choice of meals for both the dinner and breakfast to what I was used to with other airlines.

Dinner was a choice of Wok-fried chicken with fresh green pepper corn, black fungus and wing beans, carrots, shiitake mushroom, cabbage and steamed jasmine rice or Pan fried fish, green bean, carrot, new potato and tomato lemon myrtle sauce or Penne pasta, pine nut, Parmesan and spinach tomato concasse.  These were served with Haagan-Dazs icecream and tea and coffee.

Breakfast was a choice of Baked spinach souffle, pork sausage, button mushrooms, tomato and fried potato or Chicken and shiitake mushroom congee.  Both meals came served with fresh seasonal fruit, fruit yoghurt, a soft roll with fruit preserve and butter and tea and coffee.

Food/Drinks

As it was already pretty late, cabin crew were quick to organise the dinner service.  I had the fish whilst hubby had the chicken.  The fish was tasty and probably the first really enjoyable meal I had eaten on Cathay Pacific.  There still appeared to be one or two spare containers.  The ice cream was also enjoyable.

Service

Again the crew on board were efficient and professional but not that friendly with the exception of a male cabin crew member named Godfrey.  Toilets weren’t cleaned regulary enough and when they were crew went in with very minimal cleaning equipment to what I’m used to seeing on other aircraft.

Pros

• Cathay Pacific offers three choices of lunch meals and two hot choices of breakfasts
• The airline was able to give us our first choice of meal every time
• The dinner on this flight was far nicer than previous meals I had on CP
• I liked the 2×2 configuration in Economy on the A330’s

Cons

• The toilets weren’t the cleanest
• Staff generally weren’t very friendly

Conclusion

The food on this flight was better however the other shortfalls from the other flights with Cathay Pacific were still present.  The toilets weren’t kept very clean and apart from one male cabin crew member, staff weren’t particulary friendly.

I did however appreciate a greater choice in meals as well as the extra room you get with a 2x4x2 seating configuration as was the case on Cathay Pacific’s A330-300.