Hello everyone! Welcome to my very first English flight report, and my flight to study abroad in a boarding school in the UK. This was a flight during the COVID-19 pandemic, so made everything complicated and few people really travelled abroad (apart from those who fled the city due to the worsening political environment in Hong Kong.)
So that day I arrived at the airport a little bit early than usual as I heard that many travellers with tonnes of bulky luggage might be in the queue, so a little bit earlier might help avoid the queue.
The airport was unusually quiet, which doesn't seem like HKG at all, as it should be bustling 24/7 normally. Well, to be fair, it IS busy at some times: when any London flights are bound to depart, sobbing travellers would turn up at the Customs and the gates.
HONG KONG, THE ASIA WORLD CITY.
If you were a Hongkonger, you would just realise what a BIG JOKE it is
In the past, when our friends see any gate pictures, they would say, "Have a nice holiday"; but now, they would only say, 'Take care", as nobody knows whether we would meet again.
The plane operating is an Airbus A350-941 (Reg: B-LRC) which I don't have a decent picture of due to the airbridge blocking out the girl.
Boarding was soon called despite the slight delay. The economy class in the new cabins are quite spacious for me as I am not really tall and bulky, but it is said that the seat width is reduced slightly, though it just doesn't matter to me at all.
The IFE system is just amazing. Smooth as an iPad, with a wide range of movies and music album available. At least, it is way better than another Hong Kong-based airline: Hong Kong Airline (HX).
A mask and some Antiseptic Towelette given out.
After another half an hour's wait, we were pushed back and took off from the airport. I don't know which runway we used though, as apparently I was sitting in an aisle seat. Nevertheless, as soon as we lifted off, there was some more sobbing in the almost-full cabin. Everyone doesn't really seem to want to leave our lovely city, but the tyranny just forced us away. :(
After a moment or few, my meal was delivered. It was a Non-beef Meal, not because I am allergic to beef but because I just don't want to be infected with Covid when everyone eats together.
Dinner was Chicken rice with some fruits and a pudding(?) The meal overall was okay, but not the best in-flight meal definitely.
Flying in a red-eye flight, I literally passed out after supper. When I woke up, it was almost time for breakfast. This time it is dumplings and siulungbaau (小籠包）Everything is dehydrated, but I guess still better than the watery congee for the rest of the passengers
Not having enough time for a complete movie, I watched an episode of Spongebob Squarepants and then switched to the camera. A nice glimpse of the sunshine.
And then we touched down at LHR. Aisle seat. Not my favourite seat at all. I could have done some spotting when taxiing :(
Virgin A35K parked next to us. Looks marvellous in the red livery.
Apparently, we are in Terminal 3 now.
Hong Kong was a green-list country at that time, so no isolation required. Voilà
Travellers from red-list countries would have to go to Terminal 4 for passport control. Maybe they have some special processes over there?
The endless wait at the border. With another Virgin flight and Cathay flight from Hong Kong, there are SO MANY Hongkongers in the queue. I waited in the queue for 4 hours.
After getting through the border, I bought a sandwich from Cafe Nero. Nice lunch anyways.
Thanks so much for sharing this first English report with us. It was a beautiful and insightful review. Reports from HKG have been exceedingly rare for the past 2 years for obvious reasons. Having been to HKG many times over the years, it’s sad to see the current state.
The airport was always buzzing with activity. I can’t even imagine how dark the vibe must be now that no one is really going to the airport for happy things like holidays or family visits. The fact that you could hear people sobbing in the plane really drives in the overall sadness.
I commend Cathay for having managed to maintain such a decent quality of service despite two very challenging years. CX have been unfairly blamed for Covid outbreaks and it seems they are constantly battling to stay alive amid very strict entry and transit restrictions. I hope they will make it out of this crisis—it would be such a shame to lose such an iconic carrier.
Thanks again for sharing and welcome to Flight-Report! I look forward to future reviews
Thank you for your support! I may post some ancient reports later on!
Hey ! Thanks for sharing this review and welcome aboard. :)
Definitely not the best flight because of the pandemic. Still, the inflight catering seems unchanged.
Have safe flights. ;)
Oh no, the catering has changed a bit. It did worsen a bit, I'd say. I've never seen such watery congee in my earlier flights. Looks disgusting to be honest
Thank you for this very special trip report, and congrats on your first flight report on here! I really enjoyed reading it, and I think you give good information about the (relatively) current flight experience with CX. I hope you have a great time in the UK.
To the watery congee, I usually don't like airplane congee but I had CX's once when I was feeling a bit "overtraveled" and it was exactly what I needed. But that was in summer 2017, so things might have gone in the watery direction from then. Still, as KévinDC said, we can only hope that things are going to get better for Cathay Pacific soon, even though it currently sure does not look like it...
Anyways, thank you again for this nice flight report and enjoyable and safe travels!