Review of Cathay Dragon flight Penang → Hong Kong in Business

Hi everyone! Welcome to the third leg of my summer 2015 travel series where I'll be covering the return flight from Penang to Hong Kong in this report. After a nice couple of days relaxing, eating, and exploring Penang, as always, it was time for me to go back to Hong Kong to enjoy the last few days of my vacation before I head back to the US a few days later. Once again, my family and I took the early morning flight which departed at 8:00 AM, which was my misfortune of course! Even though I'm not really a morning person, I still had the determination to make this trip report worthwhile! Nonetheless, I hope you guys enjoy reading this!

Summer 2015 Trip Report Index:
1) 27 June 2015: CX899 EWR-HKG, B777-300ER, Business
2) 22 August 2015: KA633 HKG-PEN, A330-300, Business
3) 28 August 2015: KA692 PEN-HKG, A330-300, Business
4) 31 August 2015: CX701 HKG-BKK, A330-300, Business
5) 1 September 2015: CX616 BKK-HKG, B777-300, Business
6) 1 September 2015: CX840 HKG-JFK, B777-300ER, Business

Pre-flight:
I woke up at around 5:00 AM and only had half an hour to meet my parents at the lobby so that we could make it to the airport which was a 45-50 minute ride from the hotel. Most of my things were packed, so, I was good to go at that stage. After freshening up, I met up with my parents by 5:45 AM. After the smooth check-out, we loaded our bags onto the hotel van and headed straight to the airport where I was able to take a quick nap.

Departures at Penang International Airport


After checking-out the various check-in counters around the airport, it was quite difficult to spot the Dragonair check-in counters but I eventually found it after some time, which was located on the last aisle at the terminal.


Check-in counters for Dragonair and AirAsia


Shops and restaurants at the pre-security area


Post-security:
It took 5 minutes for the whole process as this was an early morning departure, hence I was able to breeze through and head on to the airside


Early morning departures


Some shots of the international departures area


While writing this report, I couldn't find the option to select the Cathay Pacific and Dragonair First and Business Class Lounge in order to rate it. Hence, there is no rating which is normally shown after the trip report.


Lounge invitation


In any case, I would say that this lounge looked quite decent as it looked recently renovated space-wise, but I think the only drawback were the catering options, which I didn't find too impressive


Boarding pass


We spend about 15 minutes in the lounge before we headed on to the gate


Our plane to HKG: a Dragonair Airbus A330-300, B-HLC


More departure shots


These past few days in Malaysia have been amazing!! I'm going to definitely miss it!


Heading down the bridge


Some pre-flight information before I board:
Date: 28 August 2015
Airline: Dragonair
Flight Number: KA 692
Route: Penang (PEN) - Hong Kong (HKG)
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Registration: B-HLC
Distance: 1489 miles
Scheduled Departure Time: 8:00 AM
Actual Departure Time: 8:01 AM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:50 AM
Actual Arrival Time: 11:26 AM
Flight Time: 3 hrs 50 mins
Departure Gate at PEN: A4A
Arrival Gate at HKG: 46

Flight:

Main business class cabin


My seat, 16K


View from my seat: Thai Airways Airbus A320-200, HS-TXC, which will serve as TG426 back to BKK


Flight route


While passengers were still boarding, I thought that there would be a light load in business class for the flight. However, I was wrong. Apparently, the cabin for the return sector to Hong Kong was quite full.


Welcome drink: Orange juice


Legroom


Once boarding was complete, the captain gave his usual pre-flight announcement and welcome, but only to tell us that the weather in Hong Kong was not going to be pleasant upon arrival as it has rained on and off during that day. Nevertheless, he did say that we would arrive on time. The next thing I knew was that we were already pushing back.

The taxi to the runway was quite short. In fact, it somehow reminded me of the taxi at EWR, which was also not that long.


Before I knew it, we were already airborne departing right on time!

Approximately 15 minutes later, the cabin crew came around distributing menus for the breakfast service as well as taking drink orders.


Menu for today's flight


In the meantime, I decided to go back to where I left off!


Table setup including orange juice, water, fruit platter, yogurt, a croissant, and butter.


The main course: Fried noodles with shrimp, kailan, and dim sum. I have to admit, it looked and tasted a lot better than the udon noodles that I had on the inbound flight. The chili sauce even does wonders in order to give the meal more flavour, which it did!


Hong Kong styled milk tea to end the breakfast service


Once the cabin crew cleared all of the tables, that was my cue to look at the flight map and see the flight's progress


Cabin views


After watching a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory, I felt exhausted as I woke up at 5:00 AM and felt like the nap I took to the airport wasn't enough, so I reclined my seat and rested for the remainder of the flight.


I woke up when the captain came on again stating that we are starting the descent into Hong Kong and we would be landing 25 minutes ahead of schedule, although unpleasant weather


The one thing I like about the regional business class cabin.


Upon checking the map for the second time, it turned out that we were already close to Hong Kong


Well, it looks nice for now!


We landed at around 11:25 AM, and we were met with somewhat horrible weather upon looking out the window. Sorry about those shots since my camera could only focus on the raindrops than the view of the airport.


Disembarking/Arrival into HKG


Post-flight:
We ended up using the automated people mover in order to help ease the journey since it would be a long walk to immigration


Immigration and baggage claim, which didn't take long



After the swift arrival process, we met our driver of the private SUV that my parents arranged beforehand, and we were on our way home, allowing me to enjoy the rest of my holiday before I go back to the US in a few days.