Review of Cathay Pacific flight from Rome to Hong Kong in Economy

Introduction

Hello FlightReporters
For an aviation geek like me summer means only one thing: flying
At the beginning of June my family and I started to discuss about a big trip in August
We evaluated many places in South East Asia and also India
Finally we find an Italian tour operator offering an interesting 14-day trip of Vietnam and Cambodia
The tour spaced between many places in Northern Vietnam (like Ha Noi and Ha Long bay), Central Vietnam (Hoi An and Hue), South Vietnam (Saigon and Mekong's delta) and Cambodia (Phnom Pehn and Angkor's temples)
To get there from Rome we would have fly with Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong
After some worries about Hong Kong's political situation we left on August 18th
Return planned for September 1st

Some personal stats:
First time on an A350
First time with Cathay Pacific

AT THE AIRPORT

In order to meet our groupmates and check-in our agency invited us to be at the airport around 3 hours before departure time
We left home around 9.30 and in about half a hour we arrived at Roma-Fiumicino "Leonardo Da Vinci" International Airport

We had booked long-term parking, located 2.5km far from the Airport
It is connected to the Terminals by a free bus service running every 5 minutes
In around 10 minutes the bus left us in front of Terminal 3, used by all the carriers except Alitalia and partners (located at Terminal 1)
The older part, renovated in 2017…

…and the newest one

Inside Terminal 3, very bright after the renovation
A giant replica of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man is located in the main hall

The FIDSs reported our check-in desk to be 214, in the newest part of the Terminal

The agency had already chosen our seats: 71A-B-C-D
Since both my sister and I wanted a window seat we ask the kind check-in lady to change our seats
She found another window seat for me, 68A
Moreover she registered our British Airways Executive Club accounts to get miles

My boarding pass and HKG transit guide
Our gate (E33) was already reported on the BP
Usually for non-Schenghen flights the gate is showed only minutes before boarding, as it happens in UK airports
Also the BPs usually present just gate "E"

After meeting our groupmates we decided to go through the security checkpoint
Despite the crowd we passed through the control in about 10 minutes
Almost every screening lane was open
The passport control was made in no time thanks to eGates

We get airside around 11.15
The boarding was scheduled at 12:25
As in many airport the screening area is followed by a forced passage through the duty free

The departure lounge, opened in 2016, is the flagship of FCO
It's full of luxury italian brands and food excellences

The foodcourt is located upstairs, but unfortunately it lacks of spotting points

Having a lot of spare time we made a walk around some shops and rest in the middle of the departure lounge
About 15 minutes before boarding time our gate was confirmed by FIDSs
Gate E33 is located in boarding area E31-44, a satellite connected by an APM called SkyBridge

The APM is a typical Bombardier Innovia APM 100

The ride, which takes around one minute, gives the possibility to spot some planes on the apron
Delta Airlines, Air Transat, Kuwait Airways and Alitalia A330s parked at boarding area E11-24

The satellite terminal
Our plane, Cathay Pacific A350-1000 and another Alitalia A330

MEA A320 and Alitalia Boeing 777

The boarding area is located at the second floor
Our gate was on the left

spotting time

Our aircraft:
Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1041, B-LXL, delivered in May '19 (0.3 years old)
The plane is equipped with 334 seats (C46-W32-Y256)

Love the "eyeliner" around cockpit windows

Thay Airways A350 parking next to ours

Aeroflot and Tunisair A320s, Jet2.com Boeing 737s, Alitalia A330s (one in SkyTeam livery) and Boeing 777

Air China A330 parked at remote gates

Air Transat A330

American Airlines Boeing 777 in oneworld livery and Air Canada Boeing 777

Alitalia A330 next to our plane

Cannot stop to admire this beauty :D

THE FLIGHT

Boarding was called 5 minutes later than scheduled

Going downstairs for boarding

Our baby as seen from the jetway

The Thai neighbor still desembarking passengers

Almost on board…

Mandatory wing pics from the jetway

I gave the flight report form to the Purser and made my way to my seat, 68A
The plane was divided in four sections: Business, Premium Economy and 2 Economy Class
My seat was in the second Economy cabin
First Economy cabin, between Doors 2 and 3

My home for the next 11 hours

The seat was very comfortable
It has an adjustable headrest, two magazine pockets, a big table and a smaller one big enough to hold a cup and the cellphone
The pitch was decent for me (I'm 180 cm tall)

Outside view with Thai A350
I really like the blended winglet

The cabin as seen from my seat
I've flew on the Boeing 787 many times and honestly I feel it as poky and uncomfortable
A350 cabin is definitely better than Dream)Liner's one
Not only it's wider, but also bright and welcoming

IFE Start Page

Safety Chart and In-Flight Magazine

The IFE is equipped with tail and front camera
Unfortunately the latter was not working

Etihad Airways Boeing 787 Dream)Liner just landed

The paper menu was delivered by the cabin crew
Every of them was very kind and spoke English correctly

Doors were closed and armed around 13

Safety video was played while pushing back

Cabin during taxi

Pushback on time, at 13.05

Alitalia A330 EI-DIR (named Filippo Brunelleschi) in SkyTeam livery
It was delivered initally to Canada 3000 Airlines in May 1999 and to Alitalia in January 2009

Air China A330 departing next to us

Plus Ultra A340

Qatar Airways A330 just landed on RWY16R/34L

Emirates A380 in a special livery landing
(Who can recognize it?)

Taxiing to RWY7/25, generally used for takeoffs
Alitalia Embraer E175 in old livery

Alitalia A320 painted with toughts by employees

Air China A330 departing with a Saudia A320 just landed behind

A small queue behind us
Emirates A380 in the background

Alitalia A320 ready for departure next to us
But we left first

Aligning to RWY25

The two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 went full thrust with a wonderful sound

On the left boarding area E11-24 and on the right E31-44, with many heavies parked

Crossing RWY16R/34L, generally used for landings

Fiumicino town and Roman coastline

The airport with Rome in the background
The hexagonal lake is the ancient Traian's Port, built by Romans in I Century A.D.

Tiber's mouth in the Tyrrean Sea

Pratica di Mare Military Airport (ICAO: LIRE)

Banking over Roman coastline

FCO in the distance

Castel Romano Outlet (above) and Cinecittà World amusement park, themed about cinema (below)

EUR district in souther Rome

Rome city center with many landmarks like Colosseum, Termini Station and Olympic Stadium

A24-GRA (Grande Raccordo Anulare, Great Ring Junction) motorway interchange
A24 motorway connects Rome with Adriatic coast (L'Aquila, Teramo and Pescara)

Flying over Roman countryside

Cabin during climb, with mood lighting set on light purple

L'Aquila city, in Abruzzo Region

Gran Sasso d'Italia (2912 m) Appenine's highest peak

A24 motorway passes underneath the mountain with a 10-km tunnel
The tunnel is also the access for the National Gran Sasso Laboratory, a physics underground research institute

Adriatic coast

While crossing Adriatic Sea a welcome snack was served
It was made of a choice of drinks (I took a Coca Cola) and salty peanuts

Meanwhile we reached Croatian coast

Waiting for the lunch I started to explore the IFE
The choice of movies and other entertainement was great
Moreover the system was very user friendly
The pages in order are: Movies, Music, Newspapers and Magazines, Children, Duty Free, Maps, Game, Cameras and Infos

One hour into the flight lunch was served
The crew was very careful and warm

LUNCH MENU

Dried beef with pineapple and apple salad - Bread and Butter
Choice between
Braised pork with Wuxi sauce, steamed jasmine rice and broccoli
or
Chicken breast, grilled Mediterranean vegetables, creamy potato mash and herb butter
or
Lasagna marinara with creamy mornay sauce
To finish with
Ice cream, tea or coffee

I asked for the chicken, but it was finished
The drawback of being in the last rows
The dried beef was good, however I found a bit strange with pineapple and apple
Regarding the main course, the beef was quite tasty and a bit spicy
Rice was tasteless, but good with the meat

FlightReport corporate pic

To finish the crew distributed a very good vanilla ice cream

Meanwhile we started to fly over Black Sea
Clouds gradually hide the land below us

Less than one hour after lunch the crew lowered the lights to let passengers sleep

I spend a bit of time walking around the cabin and getting biscuits in the galley
Many snacks and drinks were available and noodles too

Later I felt asleep quite deeply
Two hours before landing in HKG I was waken up by the crew for the breakfast

BREAKFAST MENU

Fresh seasonal fruit - Fruit yoghurt - Breakfast bread - Preserve and butter
Choice between
Frittata, tomato confit and zucchini, Nurnberger pork sausage, Provencale mushrooms and roasted potatoes
or
Stir fried noodles Shanghai style with chicken and soya sauce
To finish with
Tea or coffee

I chose Frittata
The course was in general quite good
The fruit salad was a bit dry, but tasty

While having breakfast sun started to rise

Half a hour before landing we started our descent to HKG

Cabin was set for landing, with purple mood lighting again

Descending to HKG we passed through a thick layer of clouds

Hong Kong appearing below us

Old Kai Tak Airport, closed in 1998
It was famous for its hard approach over mountains

Hong Kong Island with Kowloon in the background

118-story International Commerce Center, the highest skyscraper in Hong Kong

Banking over the New Territories

Starting final approach to HKG
We followed North Lantau Highway

Hong Kong Disneyland's Island

Landing gear down…

Last moments before landing…

At 6.29 we touched down at Hong Kong-Chep Lap Kok International Airport
Landing was a bit bumpy and brake run quite long

Vacating the runway

Local birds
HK Express A320s and many Cathay Pacific planes

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 in oneworld livery

Perfectly on time we parked at Gate 49

We had to wait about 10 minutes before leaving the aircraft
Economy class cabin while desembarking…

…and Premium Economy class

Before desembarking I asked the Purser if it was possible to visit the cockpit
She guided me through lie-flat Business Class
The seat looks soooo comfortable XD

The Captain welcomed me in the cockpit warmly
He showed me all the features of the plane and asked me many thing about my passion
Unfortunately due to Hong Kong protests he told me it was no possible to take pics in the cockpit
The flight report was quite well filled

Desembarking through L1 jetway

Last snaps of our plane
Bye bye B-LXL

Having less than two hours we searched immediately for our gate to Ha Noi

To be continued…