Aussie Flyer

A little under 3 years ago Cathay Pacific debuted their new 'Regional Business Class' product. It's a recliner seat in fixed shells and now features throughout the Cathay fleet on regional configured Boeing 777's and A330's. Cathay Regional Business Class

In June this year, after a period of renovations, Cathay reopened "The Pier" first class lounge at Hong Kong airport. I made a point of checking it out on my recent trip prior to a Cathay Pacific flight to Singapore. I was flying in business class but courtesy of oneworld Emerald status I was invited into the first class lounge. It just so happened my flight was leaving from a gate almost right opposite the lounge too, which made it very convenient. The lounge is split into various zones. I first visited the restaurant area:

Last month I finally got to try out the latest Cathay long haul business class seat. It was a long time coming I suppose since the seat has been in operation for well over a year and now features on all flights between Australia and Hong Kong. All CX flights to Australia are operated by the Airbus A330-300 in a 3 class configuration with economy, premium economy and business class. Today I will take a look at flight CX134 which departs Melbourne at 7.40am during the winter months, and 8.40am during the summer months. I warn you, there is a lot of photos... 51 in total! A fairly quiet check-in zone at MEL

On my recent 'flyventures' I had an opportunity to sample the new regional business class offering of Cathay Pacific. Whilst I say new, it is in fact already a bit over a year old, but it is the latest product offering from Cathay for regional flights. This product is used on short to medium haul flights, I think services to India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka may be about the longest flights that feature this product. My flight today was CX703, a 17.05 departure to Bangkok from Hong Kong, which continues on to Karachi. The aircraft was an Airbus A330-300 B-HLO, a 13 year old aircraft delivered new to Cathay in 2001.

 After my arrival from the USA into Tokyo Narita I checked in at the airport Hilton for an overnight stay. My onward flight would be departing from Haneda, quite a distance away so it meant a very early start the next morning. I specifically chose Haneda as Cathay offers First Class on that route but they don't from Narita. Firstly, the hotel. Hilton Narita is a short free shuttle bus ride from the airport and they have excellent rates. I payed the equivalent of approximately $100 AUD for the night. It would be even cheaper at today's exchange rates. The hotel is quite isolated but does have free shuttles to the nearby town. I was just here to relax so stayed in my room and ordered room service which was pretty ordinary.

AIRLINE:  Cathay Pacific AIRCRAFT:  Airbus A330-343X Reg: B-LAA (5 years old) CLASS:  Business Class ROUTE:  HKG-TPE (aircraft continues to Fukuoka) SEAT:  18K SCHEDULED DEPARTURE:  14.55 ACTUAL DEPARTURE:  14.54 SCHEDULED ARRIVAL:  16.45 ACTUAL ARRIVAL:  16.37 After a very quick transit, in which I was assisted by Cathay ground staff through security, I boarded CX510 to Taipei, and onwards to Fukuoka. I would be disembarking in Taipei. Today's flight was operated by B-LAA, an Airbus A330-300 delivered new to Cathay in 2005. It has regional business class seats, but they are a more modern version than found on the A330 I flew from TPE to HKG last time on Cathay (see my previous blog entry ).  CX510 now boarding B-LAA preparing to go to Taipei I took the first left on the jetway and headed for the business class cabin, I was warmly welcomed on board at Door 1L and greeted by name and directed to the right side of the aircraft and...

AIRLINE: Cathay Pacific AIRCRAFT: Airbus A340-300 (34B) Reg: B-HXA (13 years old) CLASS: Business Class ROUTE: BKK-HKG SEAT: 17K SCHEDULED DEPARTURE: 10.20 ACTUAL DEPARTURE: 10.24 SCHEDULED ARRIVAL: 14.05 ACTUAL ARRIVAL: 14.13 Check-In Today I would be travelling to Taipei via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. It was a particularly exciting occasion for me as I had never traveled on an Airbus A340 before! This flight originates in Delhi and flies to Hong Kong via Bangkok. It's a pretty painful 3am departure from Delhi, getting into Bangkok about 9am for a 1 hour transit. I had pre-selected seat 17K on this long haul configured aircraft, and checked in online the night before. I went to the business class check-in desk where there was no queue. The friendly check-in girl quickly printed out my boarding pass and lounge invitations and then wrote out my Fast Track immigration card. The fast track card is great, you proceed through a dedicated security area and the...