Welcome to a brief trip report due to the short flight and late hour that details my flight on Hong Kong Airlines and B-LGB, their second A350-900. This flight marked my 6th flight on an A359.
Our good friends were organizing a small wedding celebration in Phuket, Thailand and we had been watching fares from San Francisco for a while. Since prices had been fairly high, we hadn't confirmed our attendance. Just a few weeks before the wedding, we came across a pretty good deal but one that required a fairly complicated journey.
As these friends helped us out with our wedding a few years ago, we made the decision to go with the booking. For just three days in Phuket, we took the following flights: 11/29 - United from San Francisco to Hong Kong on a 777-300ER 11/30 - Hong Kong Airlines from Hong Kong to Bangkok on an A330-200 12/1 - Thai VietJet Air from Bangkok to Phuket on an A320-200 12/3 - Thai VietJet Air from Phuket to Bangkok on an A320-200 12/4 - Hong Kong Airlines from Bangkok to Hong Kong on an A350-900 12/4 - United from Hong Kong to San Francisco on a 777-300ER
I was excited to take this flight. With 21 Airbus A350s on order and three delivered at the time, Hong Kong Airlines became the 15th airline to operate the aircraft, solidifying its plans to challenge Cathay Pacific's historic stronghold on long-haul flights from Hong Kong particularly to America.
After a convoluted and drawn out transfer process at BKK that took more than an hour, we recharged at the Air France Lounge courtesy of Priority Pass and headed to the gate.
While normally bustling, Suvarnabhumi Airport is thankfully deserted at 2:30 am.
BKK is notoriously spotter unfriendly. This was the best shot I was able to get of B-LGB.
Boarding started a bit early and likely due to the early (or late hour depending on preferences), was painless since everyone was still bleary-eyed.
We made our way to row 32 and lucked out with our strategy of a leaving an empty middle seat.
I was quite impressed with the legroom and a bit skeptical that these were standard economy seats. While Hong Kong Airlines doesn't specifically highlight the extra legroom, a quick Google search revealed that the first four A350s were supposed to go to Brazil's Azul which canceled their order. So Hong Kong Airlines took over their order and kept the seats, only replacing the seat covers in their signature red. As Azul configures their first few rows in economy similarly to United's Economy Plus, we lucked out a bit.
This A350 also has Azul's staggered business class seats while HX's remaining A350s will have a reverse herringbone product.
As boarding continued, I browsed the Panasonic eX2 entertainment system which is fast and intuitively laid out. The selection is decent but doesn't offer the content that Cathay Pacific offers, let alone Emirates.
Checking out the 3D Airshow developed by Rockwell Collins.
We pushed back right on time and encountered no other traffic during our taxi to the runway.
Our takeoff roll was brief and the Rolls Royce Trent XWBs quietly hurtled us towards Hong Kong.
After leveling off, I took a quick tour of the two economy cabins.
The lights were dimmed and I was able to squeeze in a pretty good nap. I found the seat comfortable but armrest hilariously narrow at just 1.5 inches wide. Something had to give for Airbus to be able to fit 18 inch wide seats in a cabin that's significantly narrower than a 777.
A glimpse of the outside world when I woke back up.
And from the tail camera which has much higher resolution than the one from the A380.
WiFi is available on all HX's new A350s but for a short red-eye like this one, I just wanted to sleep.
The A350 has a reputation for being quiet but perhaps more the case for those riding in front. I recorded a 84.5 dB average which compares to the 83-85 dB average I get with 787s and 86-88 dB average with 777-300ERs when seated in approximately the same locations. Older 777-200s are significantly louder.
The cabin lights then came on and the crew started landing preparations.
Descending into a fairly polluted Hong Kong.
Thank you HX!
The flight with Hong Kong Airlines's new A350 was nice overall. The seats were comfortable with great pitch and the amenities are up-to-date. After six flights with the A350 on Cathay Pacific, China Airlines and now Hong Kong Airlines, I can definitely say while a solid way to travel, it does feel significantly narrower in economy compared to the 777 configured with the now rare 3-3-3 economy seating, particularly around the elbows. I don't actually find that it offers a better experience compared to my flights on the 787 in economy and in some ways, feel that the Dreamliner feels more modern.
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Verdict
Hong Kong Airlines
7.4/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Meal/catering5.0
Air France Lounge
7.8/10
Comfort8.0
Meal/catering8.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Services7.5
Bangkok - BKK
6.9/10
Efficiency6.0
Access6.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness7.5
Hong Kong - HKG
8.1/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.0
Conclusion
The flight with Hong Kong Airlines's new A350 was nice overall. The seats were comfortable with great pitch and the amenities are up-to-date. After six flights with the A350 on Cathay Pacific, China Airlines and now Hong Kong Airlines, I can definitely say while a solid way to travel, it does feel significantly narrower in economy compared to the 777 configured with the now rare 3-3-3 economy seating, particularly around the elbows. I don't actually find that it offers a better experience compared to my flights on the 787 in economy and in some ways, feel that the Dreamliner feels more modern.
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Hi Linard76, thanks for another beautiful report--the photos are stunning! I've taken Hong Kong Airlines in Y from HKT and HKG before and really liked them, though it was an older A330. It seems that, as expected, the A350 experience is even better. Interesting comments about the A350 Y cabin not feeling much more spacious than a 787. I haven't flown the A350 yet, but I did find the 787 Y cabin to be pretty tight--about the same as a 777 in 3-4-3. Of course, as you mention, nothing compared to the spacious Y seats on a 777 in 3-3-3, which is becoming all too rare, unfortunately.
Thanks Kevin and agreed. The space around our elbows has shrunken over time. The A350 is quiet and totally state of the art but I’ll always find flights on the A330/340 with 2-4-2 seating just that much more comfortable. Or even better, a 747.
I find your comment : 'we made our way to row 32 and lucked out with our strategy of a leaving an empty middle seat'' very considerate! Imagine if everybody did this...
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6 Comments
Thanks for sharing!
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