Review of Cathay Dragon flight from Hanoi to Hong Kong in Business

Greetings Flight Report community and thanks for stopping by this report. This is the continuation of our trip to Vietnam that became a reality after a Cathay Pacific "mistake" fare that was honored. Feel free to visit the SNA-ORD report for more background on the planning, etc.

T1 to T2 Transit

Arriving from Nha Tran (CXR) in the domestic terminal necessitated a quick shuttle bus ride to the international terminal. There was virtually no wait and the trip was about 5 minutes.

At the International Terminal (Terminal 2) we located the luggage storage desk and left our bags for the day while we walked around Hanoi. Please check out the "tourist bonus" section for a few shots of the city.

Chekck in and Lounge

We returned to Noi Bai International Airport (NIA) Terminal 2 after about 5 hours in town. Porbably 90 minutes of that time was in the taxi going back and forth.

The terminal is bright and modern. We arrived at a lull in departures/check ins as there was very little in the way of crowds.

Likewise security and immigration were quick and we were off to locate "NIA Business Lounge" which seems to be the lounge you use if you are not flying Vietnam Airlines.

The entrance is up one level from departures.

The lounge is large and has great natural light. Ramp and runway views abound! Unfortunately much of the seating is so crammed together you cannot access the center seats, should it be sufficiently crowded,  without significant effort and forget about having your luggage near by. It's really rather mind boggling to stack all of this furniture on top of each with no room for egress.

There is a small amount of seating that isn't cramped but you have to trade the good views.

Smoking facilities.

There are several massage chairs available.

Lockers to store your luggage because you can't put it near your seat.

There is a private VIP/meeting room for amputees.

Bathrooms were spacious with shower facilities.

Small FIDS.

Dining consists of several hot dishes and a wide variety of cold dishes.

Don't eat this bread.

Semi-made-to-order pho was available.

Rather poor adult beverage selection.

Jennifer gave the pho a try. It wasn't very high quality.

I opted for a vodka tonic and chips.

Cocktail with a view.

Quite a variety of aircraft visit HAN, apparently. A 767-400, really?

KA294 HAN-HKG

The sun set and so did our time in the lounge. boarding was underway as we arrived at gate 32.

Seating on this Dragonair A330-300 was in the regional 2-2-2 configuration. The aircraft had a first class and I wondered why our A fare tickets didn't ticket in F on this segment but quickly reminded myself of the circumstances of the tickets and let that go quickly.

These seats are premium economy seats at best but for a  90 minute flight they are perfectly good.

Pre departure drinks were offered from a tray. I cannot recall the name of the drink with the lemongrass stalk.

The "hot towel" service was int he form of a package. I found something make use of these smart phone holders.

Headphones on offer.

I was somewhat surprised when menus were distributed for this 90 minute flight. With a choice of main course and full bar service, no less.

As you would expect the service started as quickly after takeoff as possible. Base trays with appitizer were placed and choice of beverage offered. I opted for a glass of the Domaine Langlois-Chateau 2016, a Chenin Blanc.

Bread was passed from a basket. The garlic bread was excellent.

Chicken with tamarind sauce was OK.

Dessert was served as a separate course along with coffee, tea or digestif. The crew was simply amazing in how they carried out the service. With such a small window of time they were working hard but nothing about the service felt rushed.

Very shortly after the service items were cleared the cabin was prepared for arrival.

Yay, remote parking!

Bonus: A few hours walking around hanoi