Hi everyone! Welcome to the second leg of the Summer 2017 travel series as well as my 20th trip report written here on FR! Before I get into the flight review of this sector from Hong Kong to Bangkok, something urgent had happened back in New York which required my attention, and I had to head back as soon as possible. I basically cut my holiday short as I was planning on leaving a few weeks before the flight.
While booking the flights, I was lucky that I got seats for all sectors. Anyways, I still had to go to Bangkok since I bought the ticket through a redemption booking. In a way, it would be silly of me not to use it. This is another one of those trips to Bangkok where I'll be there for less than 12 hours. In any case, I hope all of you enjoy reading this flight report!
Summer 2017 Trip Report Index:
1) 28 May 2017: CX899 EWR-HKG, B777-300ER, Business
2) 24 July 2017: CX703 HKG-BKK, B777-200, Business
3) 25 July 2017: CX754 BKK-HKG, A330-300, Business
4) 25 July 2017: CX846 HKG-JFK, B777-300ER, Business
Pre-flight:
I got the private car that I always hire in order to go to the airport, by then I arrived at around 3:00 PM. I was able to get enough time to check-in, go through security/immigration, spend time in the lounge, and plane spot. The process of booking this flight was smooth as always.
HKG Check-in Area
The check-in process took less than 10 minutes. However, I eventually found out that my flight was delayed by an hour. Although, it got extended to two hours by the time we departed.
As usual, I breezed through security and immigration, and was at the airside within a span of 10 minutes
Post-security
I found out from the FIDS that my flight was departing from gate 2 today, which gave me the obvious choice but to go to my favourite CX lounge in HKG, The Wing due to the near distance from each other.
FIDS. My flight was initially delayed to 5:45 PM until it switched to 10 minutes later
Going through the duty-free area
Airside
Before heading to the lounge, I decided to do some plane spotting!
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER, B-KPC, serving as CX882 to LAX
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER, B-KQY, serving as CX838 to YVR
EVA Air Airbus A320-200, B-16201, serving as BR856 back to TPE
Lufthansa Airbus A380-800, D-AIMI, which arrived from FRA as LH796
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300, B-LBK
I then headed to The Wing once I was done with plane spotting
Gates 1-4 area
An attempt of messing around with the colour scheme of my camera
Heading to the lounge
The Wing - Business Class entrance
Lounge invitation
Few shots of the lounge
The famous balcony shots
The Noodle Bar
Coffee Loft
Drink menu
Some of the catering options
Shirley Temple
Tomato and lettuce on a miniature burger bun
Boarding pass
I remember spending approximately an hour and a half at the lounge, primarily due to the delay of the flight. Afterwards, I headed towards the gate which was just a short distance.
Plane to BKK: B-HNC. What I believe to be the reason for the delay was the change of aircraft as when I booked this flight, I was told that this flight was going to be operated by a regional Airbus A330-300. However, I guess there was a change of plan and was now going to be using a Boeing 777-200.
Gate area
Here's to another less than 12 hour trip!
Heading towards the plane
Some pre-flight information:
Date: 24 July 2017
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Flight Number: CX 703
Route: Hong Kong (HKG) - Bangkok (BKK)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Registration: B-HNC
Distance: 1051 miles
Scheduled Departure Time: 5:05 PM (delayed to 5:55 PM)
Actual Departure Time: 6:58 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 7:00 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 8:21 PM
Flight Time: 2 hrs 55 mins
Departure Gate at HKG: 2
Arrival Gate at BKK: D3
Inflight
Regional business class in the standard 2-3-2 configuration
My seat: 14A
The legroom was somewhat similar to what you'd find on a regional A333
Pre-departure drink - Orange juice
Hot towel
View from my seat for now
Cabin views
Flight info, with the slight glitch in regards of the flight time
Even though I have ordered a special meal for myself, I was stilled offered a menu to see if there were any other options. Hence, here's the menu for the flight.
Just as I expected, the boarding process took quite longer. So I knew for a fact that this flight was going to be further delayed
We finally pushed back at approximately 6:35 PM
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER, B-KPO, which arrived from LHR as CX254, and would serve as CX888 to JFK via YVR later that evening
A sunny day in HKG
On the right: Cathay Pacific, Boeing 777-300ER, B-KPI, as CX846 to JFK
It was quite a long taxi towards Runway 07R
Dragonair Airbus A320-200, B-HSD, serving as KA299 to HAN
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER, B-KQO, serving as CX890 to EWR
Views from the taxi towards the runway
After being held up for two hours, we finally took off towards the sunset
Views post-departure
Hong Kong on a cloudy day
See you later, Hong Kong!
Soon after, I went to see what was on the inflight entertainment
I thought I would save 2 Broke Girls for my flight to JFK tomorrow, so I decided to watch The Big Bang Theory for now
After about 15 minutes, the cabin crew started with the usual drink orders as well as the meal service
For drinks, I decided to go for Coke yet again
Table setup
My special Indian Vegetarian meal
The crew cleared up everything within half an hour. I headed on to the bathroom afterwards, which is standard-looking like the one on the four-class Boeing 777-300ER
Cabin view inflight
Galley view behind the business class cabin
About to enter Thai airspace
Filling out the Thai arrival card
At that point of the flight, I would say that the rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. So, I decided to listen to music and relax until the captain made the announcement that we were now starting the descent into Bangkok and that there were only 30 minutes till we land.
Descending into Bangkok
Even the view is pretty at night
Final shots before landing
We ended up landing at 8:21 PM, more than an hour behind schedule. The taxi to the gate took around 10 minutes
Taxiing towards Concourse D
Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300ER, A6-ETD, which will serve as EY401 back to AUH
Docking at gate D3
Disembarking/Arrival into BKK
Post-flight
To my surprise, the walk to immigration was not that long as it only took less than 5 minutes
Premium Lane entrance
Baggage claim area
The whole process took 15 minutes in total
Arrival hall
Suvarnabhumi Airport signage at the arrival hall
Since I was staying at the airport hotel again, it was another short walk before I proceeded to the shuttle, from then on I was on my way to the hotel.
Thanks for sharing RBIX. I really enjoy all of the HKG spotting shots. Is The Wing the best J lounge in HKG still or has The Pier surpassed? Thanks again and happy flying.
Thanks for the comment, Socalnow! HKG is one of the best airports for plane spotting!! Well, I've heard both lounges are excellent, and I've talked frequently about The Wing. However, I haven't gotten the chance to check out the new Pier lounge since its renovation, but I hope to do it soon! Happy travels!