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510 reviews
With this early flight I end my short stay in Hong Kong for another short stay in Seoul. It is the return leg of the previous flight, Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong International Airport to Incheon International Airport.
In a cloudy morning in Causeway Bay. I take the MTR to Central/Hong Kong station, where I purchase an Airport Express ticket for 110 HKD (~13 €). In the station there are screens with flight information. From Hong Kong station, it takes less than 30 minutes to the airport.
HKG has a large check-in area, with multiple rows of service counters. These rows are assigned to specific airlines or alliances, and it is those in particular that are served by the self check-in kiosks between the respective rows. I quickly print my boarding pass, and proceed to security control.
The queue takes around 10 minutes and the check under 5. Afterwards there is passport control. The automatic gates did not recognize my electronic passport, so I had to go through a manual check. Regardless, it took under 5 minutes as well.
In the terminal proper, the design feels spacious and modern. The curved ceiling has plenty of skylights, which combined with the glass walls facing the apron allows for plenty of natural light, at least on sunnier days.
There is a good variety of eating options, from dim sum to ramen and "Gordon Ramsay Plane Food To Go," whatever that means. I go for some dim sum, which is quite good.
A well known feature for planespotters is the SkyBridge connecting to the satellite terminal, which offers a great, elevated view of the airport.
The main terminal pier is wide, with plenty of seating areas and walking hallways with travelators. There are shops and restrooms around them, as well as "Water Zones" that offer both hot and cold water to refill bottles or just to drink, as paper cups are also provided.
The seating areas have a large number of seats, with chargers between some of them. There are also work desks with views of the apron and more charging ports, with USB type A and C outlets.
With this flight I end my stay in Hong Kong, and head for a short stay in the Korean capital. It is a medium-short haul flight from Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon.
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Flight: CX410
Model: Boeing 777-300
Registration: B-HNG (Hong Kong)
Age: 27 years
Boarding is, as I'm now used to in Asia, very fast for a rather full B777. The door is closed not long after I board, and I generally wait seated until the queue is short and I'm amongst the last to step into the plane.
Today I sit in 44K, a starboard window seat from which I hope to get good views of Hong Kong as we depart. The seat is more standard than in the A350, so it doesn't feel as weird. It still features an adjustable and foldable headrest. The recline is good and the audio jack is also in the armrest.
The legroom is still good, despite an awkward metal bar near the middle of the front seat. There is a storage pocket with a magazine, safety card and sickness bag. It has a smaller pocket, but it's too small to fit even my phone.
There is a foldable device and cup holder above it and below the IFE screen.
The screen has noticeably lower resolution and size than in the A350, and the map takes a very long time to load, which is still very controllable and detailed. The movie selection is quite extensive, though the Made in HK section leaves a bit to be desired. There are also very frequent crew announcements interrupting the entertainment, as they are provided in English, Cantonese and Korean.
There are, as usual, individual reading lights but not air vents.
Class: Economy Light (Q)
Includes: 1x Breakfast. 1x Cabin bag + 1x Small bag. Paid seat selection before check-in.
Seat: 44K (Window)
Price: ~454k KRW ≈ 315 € (Round trip)
Ancillaries (this segment only): 0 KRW = 0 € (Seat reservation at check-in)
As we're taxiing towards the runway, I spot a masked Cargolux B747. It's been a while since I visited Luxembourg and its overwhelming amount of massive cargo planes… In the photo, the lower visibility can be appreciated, which will not allow me the view of Hong Kong I was wishing for.
We taxi to 07R, from where we take off at 9:57 and fly over Victoria Harbor, clouds covering the view.
Not long after departure we are served breakfast. I choose eggs with sausage, which may not be very oriental, but it's quite common in Hong Kong. We are again provided with metal cutlery!
he eggs are nice and fluffy, and the sausage is tasty. The potatoes are quite bland and soggy, but could be saved with some of the butter. The bread is the same unremarkable thing, while the absence of pineapple makes the fresh fruit more cohesive and enjoyable. The strawberry youghurt is quite nice too.
The tea, however, is a major disappointment. Not only is it prebrewed, but it's outright disgusting. It's a big surprise, being served by a Hong Kong 5-star airline departing from its home base. But there's no way around it, the tea is just undrinkable.
There is nothing remarkable about the restrooms. They're neatly clean and feature some cosmetic products besides the soap.
The flight is uneventful, with a thick cloud cover for most of the duration. Clouds start to scatter nearing Korea, as we descend towards the peninsula.
Route: Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) – (ICN) Incheon International Airport
Great Circle distance: 2067 km
Flight length: ~2400 km
Flight time: 2h 40m
Delay on arrival: -20 minutes (early)
We land on 34L at 13:36. Parallel to us on 34R, a Zipair B788 takes off with destination Tokyo Narita.
ICN has separate areas for departures and arrivals, which makes for a more spacious area, even if there are less services for arriving passengers. There are still more than enough restrooms in the hallway to transfers and baggage claim.
Queuing for passport control takes 15 minutes, while the control takes less than 2, as a visa and K-ETA exempt traveler. I simply hand in the arrival card I filled in the plane, and my passport is checked and my fingerprints taken. The machine that took my fingerprints had a screen with instructions in the language of my passport's nationality.
Landside, there are multiple bank ATMs where I withdraw some Korean Won, as well as multiple transport options. I purchase an AREX ticket for 9500 KRW (~6.50 €), which takes me to Seoul Station in under an hour.
Thank you for reading this report! I hope the tea I was served is not supposed to be a delicacy that I'm too inexperienced to enjoy.
~~~~~~~
Photography: Own work
Maps: Google
Flight route: Flightradar24
HKG is a very comfortable airport to depart from, with good dining options, views and seating areas.
ICN T1 presents a good arrival experience, with efficient procedures and good connections to the city, in spite of a long distance to the center.
Cathay Pacific has a great product with good meals, which are brought down by a very disappointing drink.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 25 avis concernant 6 compagnies sur la ligne Hong Kong (HKG) → Seoul (ICN).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Cathay Pacific avec 8.4/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 3 heures et 17 minutes.
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2 Comments
No comment on the tea incident, but likely better to be pre-brewed than using the water from a ~30-year old plane. The rest of the meal looks decent, not surprising to see the meal soggy with all of the water coming out of the eggs on reheating.
The meal already looks far better than what CX's breakfasts normally go! The meal is often soggy & tastes disgusting, so it was nice to see that you got something that looked & tasted decent. Most locals here avoid CX's morning flights if they are stringent on airplane food xD
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