Hi everyone! Welcome to my first trip report of 2018 and another one of my travel series where I'll be covering flights during the Winter of 2017-18. After a relaxing month in Hong Kong, it was time to head off to Bangkok as well as a surprise destination on a surprise airline! I'm quite excited for this travel series since I had quite an adventure which I can't wait to share with you all. So, stay tuned for that as these said reports will be coming soon! Anyways, without further ado, let's get on with the current flight! ;)
Winter 2017-18 Trip Report Index:
1) 24 December 2017: CX845 JFK-HKG, B777-300ER, Business
2) 20 January 2018: CX653 HKG-BKK, A330-300, Business
3) 21 January 2018: EK377 BKK-DXB, A380-800, First
4) 25 January 2018: EK207 DXB-JFK, A380-800, First
Pre-flight
I got the private car that I always hire in order to go to the airport. I arrived at around 10:00 AM, which gave me enough time to check-in, go through security/immigration, spend time in the lounge, and plane spot before I head to Bangkok as well as avoid the rush since it was approaching the end of the winter peak season.
The process of booking this flight was smooth as always and I was done with security and immigration within a matter of minutes.
HKG Check-in Area
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 27 today, from which I decided to head to The Cabin located near gate 23. What I didn't know at that time was that it was going to close in March 2018, just in time for CX's newest lounge, The Deck, to open up. I would definitely say that I was glad to get a final glimpse of The Cabin before it finally closed its doors.
A couple of shops at HKG
Airside
Now, time to spot some planes!
China Airlines Boeing 747-400, B-18210, which will serve as CI940 back to TPE
Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-200, N857NW, preparing to depart back for SEA as DL38
China Airlines Boeing 737-800, B-18617, serving as CI7868 to TNN
Heading to the other end of the airport to try my luck again!
More airside photos
China Eastern Airlines Airbus A321-200, B-6369, departing for WUX as MU2902
United Airlines Boeing 777-200ER, N204UA, preparing to depart back for ORD as UA896
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300, B-LAK (in the new livery), which will depart for TPE later on as CX472
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER, B-KQQ, preparing to depart as CX163 to MEL
A good day for plane spotting!
Cathay Dragon Airbus A330-300, B-LBF, departing as KA620 to HGH
FIDS
Once I was done finding the planes I could, I was on my way to The Cabin
Gate area
The Cabin entrance
Lounge invitation
I found to my surprise that this lounge was mostly empty! I've already reviewed this lounge before. So, I won't go much into the details. However, I'm not so much of a fan of The Cabin as it doesn't really offer a lot like the flagship lounges at HKG. However, it does provide comfortable seating and amazing colours which really brighten things up! There was also a small variety of food and drinks, but it is not much compared to CX's other lounges at HKG
Some of the food that was provided at the lounge
Drink choices (Note the water bottle display)
Boarding pass
The so-called "IT area"
I had a lot of time before my flight, so I decided to get something a drink
Drink menu
Mojito
After spending 45 minutes at the lounge, it was time to head to the gate. As I have previously stated, the distance was not that bad.
Heading to the gate
Gate area
Plane to BKK: B-HLO
I'm ready to head off to one of my favourite holiday destinations!
Heading down the aerobridges
Some pre-flight information:
Date: 20 January 2018
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Flight Number: CX 653
Route: Hong Kong (HKG) - Bangkok (BKK)
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Registration: B-HLO
Distance: 1051 miles
Scheduled Departure Time: 12:00 PM
Actual Departure Time: 12:48 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 1:55 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 2:24 PM
Flight Time: 2 hrs 55 mins
Departure Gate at HKG: 27
Arrival Gate at BKK: E7
Inflight
Regional business class in the standard 2-2-2 configuration
My seat, 15A
The usual cramped legroom in the regional business class, but not bad for a 2 hour flight
View from my seat
The mini-table
Pre-departure drink: Champagne
Flight route
The boarding process was quite short, but one thing I noticed was that the load in business class for this flight was quite full. That was when the captain came on for his pre-flight announcement welcoming us onboard and tells us that he will be getting us into Bangkok in about 2 hours and 32 minutes with good weather ahead.
Hot towel
It took approximately 10 minutes for the doors to close, and we didn't get pushback clearance for another 20 minutes
In the meantime, the crew came around to distribute menus for the flight
Also, they came back for another round of pre-departure drinks while we were waiting for pushback clearance
I decided to go for a glass of Coke
We finally pushed back at approximately 12:25 PM
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300, B-LAX, which arrived from TPE as CX471 not too long ago, and Cathay Dragon Airbus A330-300 B-LAB
It was quite a long taxi towards Runway 07R. However, I was glad to spot even more planes!
China Airlines Boeing 737-800, B-18653, departing as CI642 back for TPE
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300, B-HLS, departing as CX332 to PEK
Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A320-200, B-LPC, departing as HX342 to KWE
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER, B-KQB, departing as CX239 to LHR
Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A350-900, B-LGB, departing as HX68 to LAX
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300, B-HNM, right behind us to depart for CTS as CX582
View from the taxi towards the runway
We finally took off 50 minutes behind schedule
View post-departure
Hong Kong on yet another cloudy day
High up in the clouds!
I'll be back soon, Hong Kong!
Soon after, I went to see what was on the inflight entertainment
Yet again, I was disappointed with the entertainment choices
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 with the appetiser and main course, which I felt was quite limited in my opinion
Main course: Thai chicken curry with kailan and jasmine rice. It was a tad bit spicy but it was one of the best meals that I've had on CX, even though the portion was quite disappointing
Dessert: Cookies and cream ice cream
The crew cleared up everything within half an hour, from then on I headed on to the bathroom afterwards, which I found to be more narrow than the usual Airbus A330-300
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 the South China Sea, ultimately heading towards Vietnam
The one thing that I somehow find unique about the regional business class cabin
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 for the remainder of the flight
It wasn't long until the captain came back to announce that we were now starting our descent into Bangkok and had 35 minutes before landing
Filling out the Thai arrival card
Approaching Bangkok
It wasn't long until the cabin started to prepare for landing
Final shots before landing
We ended up landing half an hour behind schedule, primarily due to the late departure out of HKG. The taxi to the gate took around 10 minutes
Actual flight route
Taxiing to Concourse E, with the view of Finnair Airbus A330-300, OH-LTN, which just arrived from HEL a while back as AY143
Docking at gate E7
Post-flight
Disembarking/Arrival into BKK
We ended up on the usual long walk to immigration which was nothing new.
The "warehouse" look of the airport
A beautiful orchid garden
Making our way to immigration
Reaching the Premium Lane
Despite being in the premium lane, it took more than half an hour to get to the baggage claim area due to long lines. I think there should be some improvements, especially with the premium lane which should have a quicker process.
Heading towards the arrival hall
Arrival hall
Suvarnabhumi Airport signage
I booked a private car straight out of the arrival hall, where you can book a car/limousine of your choice. Upon reaching the desk, I made arrangements for the drop-off to my hotel as I had other preparations planned, which I'll be announcing very soon! Afterwards, I was smooth sailing to my hotel to enjoy my quick getaway in Bangkok.
