Cathay Pacific Business Class Review, London To Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific, a regular Skytrax Airline Of The Year, has an impressive lineup of flights between London and Hong Kong to choose from, but frequency isn’t the main key to a good flight; it’s all down to the aircraft, and the service.

• The Flight/Route: CX254, London to Hong Kong.
• Duration: 11 hours 55 minutes, dep 22.25, arrive 1730+1.
• The Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER.
• Cabin/Seat: Business Class, Seat 16A.
• Baggage Allowance: 40 kgs.
• Frequent Flyer Program: Marco Polo Club.
• More Information: www.cathaypacific.com.au. 

Overview 

Living in the southern Spain, Cathay Pacific isn’t often on my radar when I fly, even though the airline services Madrid and Barcelona from Hong Kong. But as I was travelling from London during a busy time of year, I grabbed a great deal on a business class fare, and booked my trip to Hong Kong with high expectations. Besides an impressive number of daily flights, a key highlight when booking was its improved Business Class service. I’d been told it includes a fantastic new flat-bed seat, one of the longest and widest in the airline industry. As I stand nearly six feet tall this was welcome news; I was also booked on an overnight flight to Hong Kong, and had a busy couple of days ahead, so sleep was top of my list of essentials.

Check In/Lounge

I'd spent a weekend in London visiting my kids before the flight, and it seemed really busy for a Monday night at the airport. While it took a bit of time to get through security and immigration, it didn't take long for staff to get to me queuing in the Business Class line, and I was soon on my way to the newly refurbished Cathay Pacific lounge, boarding pass in hand. This is an idea place to catch your breath after a busy day, and ahead of a long red-eye flight. If you had time, which I didn’t, you could have something to eat from a snack to a full-on meal, check on the news or your email, and enjoy a cold beer (read our full review here).

The Seat/Entertainment

I haven’t travelled on many 777-300ERs, but I’m told that those operating between London and Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific usually have six First Class suites, 53 Business Class seats, 34 Premium Economy seats, and 182 Economy seats. Business Class has a 1-2-1 seating configuration, with window seats facing away from the aisle, and the two seats in the middle facing slightly towards each other - great for couples, I thought. The seats are decked out in a sturdy herringbone cloth, and they are generous in size, over 205 cms long when fully flat, and just under 60 cms wide. The seat position changes easily by the simple touch of a button, and you have a duvet and a pillow to make you comfortable when you want to sleep. There's also plenty of storage space, noise-cancelling headphones, and places to secure your glasses. Other features if you need them include a universal power supply outlet, a multi-port connector with an RCA port, and an iPhone/iPod connector and a USB port. And if you want to watch TV, you can do on on a personal 38 cm screen with a good range of audio and video content on demand.

The Food

My family dinner in London had been hours before so I was pretty hungry, and first meal service was dinner, followed later by snacks on request, and breakfast before arriving in Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific is rolling out a new restaurant style business class dining service on Boeing 777 flights; it started with Chicago in mid-2018, and will extend to 34-odd destinations by June 2019, featuring individually-plated meals. Until then I enjoyed the regular service, which began with a single choice starter of a salmon mousse salad, followed by a choice of mains including a fish, chicken and vegetarian option. I opted for a braised lamb rump with chick peas and mint, which was surprisingly perfectly cooked to medium. I was so hungry I managed to nibble on a nice selection of cheese afterwards, washed down with a small whiskey on ice. The wine list was mostly European varieties, including a nice Cheval Noir Saint-Émilion from 2011 which I enjoyed with my lamb.

The Service

When I boarded I was greeted with friendly smiles and escorted to my seat, which happened to be through the First Class section. My seat was on the side facing the windows, just past the beginning of the Business Class section, and I was immediately offered a drink, some newspapers, and a toiletries kit. Then the senior flight attendant stopped by briefly to introduce herself personally. I slept for much of the flight, but when I was awake, or I used the bathroom, I could see that the crew were responding to requests quickly, and keeping a close watch on everything.

UltimateTravelMagazine.com Loves 

• The seat, which is extremely comfortable and great for taller travellers.
• The cabin layout, which offers all passengers easy aisle access along with more privacy.

Insider Tips  

• Avoid seats in row 12 which are just behind First Class and near the toilets. At the end of the flight, a man travelling in seat 12A told me he’d been accidentally woken up numerous times during the flight.