Hello, everyone! Welcome to Part 1 of the final leg of my Summer 2017 travel series where I'll be covering the return flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong. As stated from my previous trip report, I had to head back to New York due to something which required my attention. So, I had to cut my vacation early as I was scheduled to leave in the beginning of August. I was lucky enough to get a booking for all sectors at the last minute. Nonetheless, I hope you guys enjoy reading this!
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
Since the airport was only 5 minutes from the hotel, I woke up at 9:30 AM, which would give me enough time to freshen up, do some last minute packing, check out, and head straight to the airport shuttle that operates every 5-10 minutes, which is quite convenient. I decided to skip breakfast and made the plan to grab something to eat at the lounge as there are plenty of choices there. By the time I was done, I made it to Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 10:15 AM that morning.
Heading towards the departure lobby
BKK Departure Lobby
Check-in area for CX
As always, the process of checking-in took 10 minutes. The next thing I knew was that my bags were checked in all the way to New York and was issued boarding passes for both flights.
Mangkorakarn and Maiyarab
Going through security and immigration, which took approximately 10 minutes
Post-security
The famous Samudra Manthan exhibit
FIDS
Airside - with a wide variety of shops and restaurants located throughout the airport
Duty-free area
Heading towards Concourse G
Concourse G
As always, in order to get to the CX lounge in BKK, once you get through Concourse G, you just make a sharp left and keep going straight until you see the entrance.
Heading towards the lounge
Lounge entrance
Lounge invitation
I'm going to keep the lounge review short since I've already talked about it on my trip report on the same route from 2015 (Link can be found here)
More shots of the lounge
Some snacks offered at the bar area
Noodle Bar
Buzzer which notifies you when your dish is ready
My breakfast: Pad Thai and a cappuccino
Boarding passes
I had plenty of time before the flight. So, I chatted with some family and friends before leaving after spending an hour in total before proceeding to board the flight
Heading towards the gate
Gate G3
Walking down the ramp to the gate area
Plane to HKG: B-LBC, an Airbus A330-300
Gate area and aerobridge
Some pre-flight information:
Date: 25 July 2017
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Flight Number: CX 754
Route: Bangkok (BKK) - Hong Kong (HKG)
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Registration: B-LBC
Distance: 1049 miles
Scheduled Departure Time: 12:40 PM
Actual Departure Time: 12:51 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 4:30 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 4:11 PM
Flight Time: 2 hrs 50 mins
Departure Gate at BKK: G3
Arrival Gate at HKG: 16
Inflight
Main business class cabin
My seat, 17K with the inflight controls
Pre-departure drink: Orange juice
View from my seat
Flight information
The standard narrow legroom on an A333
Hot towel
Cabin view. From what I could remember, it was quite a medium load in the main business class cabin
From what I can remember, the boarding process was quite short. Before I knew it, the captain made his usual pre-flight announcement and welcome, saying that with the short flight time, we would be landing into Hong Kong ahead of schedule
Settled into my seat!
Pushing back at around 12:35 PM
Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-300, TC-LND
EVA Air Boeing 777-300ER, B-16703 in the Hello Kitty livery, about to depart for LHR as BR67
A good view of BKK
Taxiing towards Runway 19R
We took-off from the runway at 12:50 PM that afternoon, along with the fantastic view of the Bangkok skyline
10 minutes after take-off
I'll be back soon, Thailand!
Exploring the inflight entertainment, studioCX
I ultimately decided to watch some 2 Broke Girls
Since I have once again ordered a special meal for myself, I was still offered a menu to see if there were any other options.
The mini-cabin located behind the main business class was quite empty today
Galley area
Prior to the dinner service, I headed on to the bathroom which is standardly narrow on the A333
Once I got back to my seat, the crew started with the lunch service
Perrier, my usual drink
Table setup with the appetisers
My special Indian Vegetarian meal
Another round of Perrier along with some garlic bread
Ending the meal service off with a Hong Kong styled milk tea
The crew courteously cleared everything away within half an hour
Cabin view inflight
I thought this would be the perfect time to check on the progress of the flight and see where we were. It turned out that we were over Hainan Island with only one hour left before we landed
A couple of minutes later, the mood lighting came on
High above the clouds
I spent the rest of the flight catching up with 2 Broke Girls until the captain came back on with the usual pre-arrival announcement saying that we had 30 minutes before we landed. This was the cue for the seat belt sign, which came back on giving the indication that we had to prepare for landing
Approaching HKG
Changes of the mood lighting
Final shots before landing
We landed at 4:11 PM, which was approximately 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The taxi to the gate took about 5 minutes
Docking at gate 16
Actual flight route
Post-flight
Disembarking/Arrival into HKG
B-LBC viewed from the terminal
The transfer area was not that far from the gate, from then I bypassed security which didn't take long and I was once again at the departure level. Anyways, see you guys in part 2!
