Review of Cathay Pacific flight Seoul → Hong Kong in Economy

Introduction

Welcome to the final section of the trip to the first city I visit on this journey. It is a self-connecting flight, booked independently from the other ones, from Incheon International Airport to Hong Kong International Airport. Due to the change in the incoming flight, I won't get to experience a less common airline (Hong Kong Airlines) but I do get to fly on another 5-star airline (Cathay Pacific).

It may be worth noting that this flight was booked within 24 hours of departure.

Departure: ICN T1

After a 20~30 minute walk from the arriving plane, I am at the shuttle train stop of Terminal 2 in ICN. From here, it takes 10 minutes in 2 shuttle trains to Terminal 1. There is a quick security check before entering the terminal, where my water bottle is unfortunately emptied.

Since I don't have my boarding pass, I go to the transfer desk to print it. There I find that very few airlines actually have transfer services at the desk, and that I would have to go to my gate and wait for a gate agent to print my boarding pass. This is, however, no problem and I get my boarding pass well before departure. This process was probably simplified because I only brought cabin baggage.

ICN T1 has a good, spacious passenger area with glass windows looking at the tarmac as well as some in the ceiling, which would bring in lots of natural light at an earlier time of day. The hallways are also very functional, with plenty of space for moving between areas. There are restrooms, gates and few shops around them, which makes them less overwhelming than usual. Shopping and cultural areas are closer to the center of the terminal.

The waiting areas around the gates are quite spacious with plenty of seats, but a good third of them are "occupied" by bags of people wanting more personal space. There are also multiple charging stations for electronic devices.

Flight: Cathay Pacific A350-900

At the gate, there is a camera crew that seems to be filming an advertisement. After they are done, the agent for my flight arrives and swiftly processes my boarding pass. The plane arrives after the sun has set, and boarding starts not long after. This is the second leg of my self-connecting flight, which will take me from Incheon to Hong Kong.

Airline: Cathay Pacific
Flight: CX419
Model: Airbus A350-900
Registration:  B-LRI (Hong Kong)
Age: 7 years

And here is my seat, 73K; A window seat at the very back of the plane. The seat features a headrest that can be adjusted vertically, as well as folded for more comfort. The recline is also very good for a last-row seat. The seat itself, however, is a bit uncomfortable as the sides curve inwards, which applies an awkward pressure on my side; rather than my back as I'm used to. This may or may not be better ergonomically, but it felt weird throughout the flight.

There are universal power outlets underneath the seat. The audio jacks are on the armrests.

The IFE has a very high-resolution screen, with good and responsive touch controls. The map is also very controllable and has high quality 3D animations. The animations are so complex that they crashed the IFE once. There is also a large variety of movies and music, as well as two outside cameras. This airplane is equipped with WiFi, but it does not work on this flight.

Below the screen there is a cup and device holder.

Under this holder, there is the tray table, which can be folded and extended. It is rather sturdy, and wide enough to comfortably work on.

Below it there is a literature pocket, with a safety card, magazine and sickness bag.

Legroom is very good, and more than enough for a 4 hour flight. As a 171 cm tall person, I can comfortably sit and stretch my legs into a more relaxing position. My backpack also fits without problem under the seat in front, or behind my legs if I want to stretch them a bit.

Overhead, there are only reading lights and cabin crew calling signals. There are no individual air vents.

The provided headphones are alright, they are comfortable but the noise of the engines easily bleeds through.

The security video is quite good, with nice, stylized animations instead of weird, hyper-realistic humans. Audio and subtitles are both in English and Cantonese.

Class: Economy Light (Q)
Includes: 1x Meal. 1x Cabin bag + 1x Small bag. Paid seat selection before check-in.
Seat: 72K (Window)
Price: ~454k KRW ≈ 315 € (Round trip)
Ancillaries (this segment only): 0 KRW = 0 € (Seat reservation at check-in)

We taxi along the length of the airport and take off from 16L at 20:06.

I'm still feeling the effects of the Gochujang bomb I ingested on the last flight, so my appetite is low and I barely understand the options for dinner. I receive the pasta and chicken option, which includes:

Metal cutlery, which is always appreciated in Economy. There is also a napkin and a refreshing towel.

A bread roll and butter. The butter is quite nice, but the bread is cold and dull.

A quinoa salad, which is not very appetizing. I personally dislike the trend of serving quinoa as a cold side dish instead of a hot main dish, where its flavors shine the most.

The main dish, pasta with tomato sauce, chunks of cheese and chicken, and vegetables. The combinations is weird, but it works. The chicken is quite dry, but everything tastes nice.

Fresh fruit, and an ice cream that I didn't touch, so I won't give opinions.

The lavatories were quite clean throughout the flight, besides the sink. They included moisturizers besides the soap.

Most of the flight was quite bumpy, so hot drinks weren't served.

As we descend towards Hong Kong, I get the view for which I reserved a starboard window seat: Victoria Harbor and most of Hong Kong can be seen.

Route: Incheon International Airport (ICN) – (HKG) Hong Kong International Airport
Great Circle distance: 2067 km
Flight length: ~2500 km
Flight time: 3h 27m
Delay on arrival: -7 minutes (early)

It's quite late now, as we touch down at 22:33 on the newer 07L. This means that there's still a bit more to go, as the taxi to the gate is a bit long.

Arrival: HKG

Despite sitting on a window seat at the very back of the plane, I'm out in less than 8 minutes. From there there is a lengthy walk to immigration, but there are restrooms alongside the hallways. Immigration itself takes under a minute, the arrival card was handed by the cabin crew during the flight and with my passport I don't need a visa to enter Hong Kong.

Around 40 minutes later, I am in Hong Kong station after a 110 HKD (~13 €) Airport Express ride. The train is actually very comfortable, with padded, reclinable seats.

Thanks and image credits

Thank you for reading this report! I hope my standards weren't excessively high despite Cathay Pacific being a top airline.
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Photography: Own work
Maps: Google
Flight route: Flightradar24