Review of Cathay Pacific flight Hong Kong → Bangkok in Business

Intro

Hello, this is Ken from Hong Kong, and I'm glad to e-meet you all here. 

Cathay Pacific, same as Singapore Airline, has always been a wide-body jet-only carrier for the past several decades. In 2020, when Cathay Dragon, Cathay Pacific’s subsidiary, got closed down because of the covid-19 pandemic, Cathay Pacific took up Cathay Dragon’s 16 Airbus 321neo orders and most of her routes.

In today’s flight review, we would be savoring the 2-hour air travel experience onboard Cathay Pacific’s first Airbus 321neo from Hong Kong to Bangkok in Business Class, unveiling the Hong Kong Flag carrier’s latest regional Business Class product.

I do Flight Reviews on YouTube, so if you want to feel a detailed review of this flight, do check it out!

Also check out my Instagram cxka_ken for more travelling shots!
https://www.instagram.com/cxka_ken/?hl=en 

Arriving at Hong Kong International Airport, which just got fully opened up not long ago, I was welcomed by a very cute Marriott Bonvoy advertisement board. The Business Class check in process at Aisle B was very efficient as there were only few passengers with lots of counters opened.

After checking in, I made my way to the lounge. Due to reduced traffic in Hong Kong because of the notorious covid-zero policy, Cathay only open 2 of the 5 lounges in Hong Kong in 2022, namely The Wing First and The Pier Business. They slightly modified the lounge access policy for 2022 that everyone with lounge access can use both lounges, meaning that there wasn't differentiation between First and Business Class lounges. (In 2023, The Wing First only opens its doors to First Class passengers).

I paid a visit to The Wing First lounge, where I got some Christmas special Festive drinks as Christmas was approaching back then. They are all very delicious, with my favourite being the Snowman.

I didn't spend much time at the lounge as I wanted to board early to take some good pictures onboard - this was my first time flying Cathay's narrow body jet! The flight was scheduled to depart from the North Satellite Terminal, which is a separate terminal building that used to be connected to the main terminal only by bus transits, but with the opening of the "Sky Bridge" in 2022, the two terminals are now physically connected, and the Bridge provides a really great apron view to aviation lovers like me. Make sure you check out the bridge if you are flying out of Hong Kong.
 

Here we are at the gate, where I met B-HPB, the first Airbus 321neo Cathay Pacific received from Airbus back in 2020. Despite being 2 years old, the aircraft did not have the chance to fly that much because of covid. Welcome onboard!

Cathay Pacific's new A321neo has two cabins - Business Class (12 seats in a 2-2 configuration) and Economy Class (190 seats in a 3-3 configuration). It's interesting to learn that Cathay has decided to cut down the number of Business Class seats and squeeze in more Economy Class seats on this new regional aircraft. Previously, Cathay Dragon used to fly 24 and 8 passengers in Business Class on their A321 and A320 respectively.

Regional Business Class - They are only recliners, and cannot be turned into a Fully Flat Bed… Quite a disappointment as airlines like Starlux, China Airlines, or even Philippines Airlines, have already introduced lie-flat seats on their narrow body jets. 

Economy Class seats - The same hard product that you can find on Cathay's long haul A350-1000, and they are manufactured in Hong Kong by HAECO. However, based on customers' feedback, the legroom on this regional jet has greatly reduced vs that on A350. 

Welcome drinks were served shortly after boarding - and you could choose from water, champagne and Cathay Delight (kiwi and milk-based signature drink)

Let's explore the Business Class seat product, and my thought towards this product was as below:
1.  I loved the new colour scheme adapted in the cabin. The use of Khaki and Brown is a smart choice as the cabin now looks more premium than the Cathay green the airline used to use.
2. The 4K TV screen is really one of the best TV screen I have ever seen onboard! Although it's not a massive screen, but it has a really great definition and the content just looks sharp on the screen. You can also connect your own Bluetooth devices (e.g. My AirPods Pro) to the system instead of using the noise cancelling headset provided.
3. The seat, not being able to turn into a bed, is a big discount to this new seat product. But it was more comfortable than what I had expected and I was overall happy about it.

Pushing back and taking off …

A refreshment was provided shortly after take off. Everything tasted great, except the Chocolate cake. That was a Christmas special dish, but I would prefer a cup of Haagen Dazs ice cream instead.

For the remainder of the flight, I spent time chatting with the Japanese Senior Purser, whom I met for the second time after a flight from Hong Kong to Sapporo in 2019. She recognised me and it was really great meeting her again as we had had great fun last time on our flight to Sapporo. After that, I went to Economy Class to take some photos.

And soon, we arrived at Bangkok, where I got greeted by some ground staff and received a lovely orchid flower gift arranged by The Marco Polo Club, Cathay's loyalty program.