Review of Qantas flight from Sydney to Hong Kong in Economy

Hello everyone, welcome back to the final flight report of my school trip in Queensland!
I was flying back to Hong Kong from Brisbane, transferring at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport from T3 (Qantas domestic) to T1 (International), while travelling in a group with schoolmates. This trip report features my flight as I fly from Sydney to Hong Kong on Qantas.

Aircraft: VH-QPA (Airbus A330-300; "Kununurra")
Age of aircraft as of flight: 19.8 years
Flight number: QF127
Scheduled flight time: 10:15 (+10) - 17:55 (+8) | 9h40m
Actual flight time: 11:13 (+10) - 17:59 (+8) | 8h46m
Seat: 53A (Economy)

transfer

We deboarded from the last flight, QF501 (Brisbane BNE - Sydney SYD), which was parked at gate 9 of Terminal 3. Afterwards, we proceeded to gate 15 to take the bus back to the international terminal. Unlike my last time transiting from international to domestic at SYD, this time Qantas would handle our baggage since we are transiting from domestic to international, hence we do not need to collect our baggage.

After the bus ride, we went through a special pathway which eventually led us up to security checking. Sydney in the morning is a total mess, security lines are packed with passengers and long waiting time is needed. There are staff everywhere yelling at passengers and telling them to move faster. It is a very time-consuming process, so my advice would be reserving sufficient transit time at Sydney.

There are multiple souvenir shops at the departure hall, where I purchased a small jar of vegemite. The information boards are also fascinating enough, informing passengers to "Relax" in English and the destination languages.

boarding

Our gate got changed twice. On the boarding pass I obtained from Brisbane when I checked in earlier that morning, it clearly showed that we board from gate 26A. And eventually, we were notified of 2 gate changes when we have arrived at the departure hall, eventually we boarded at gate 26F, which is a remote gate.

We were stuck at the crowded pier B (East) for some time before getting the instruction to go down by 1 level and to take the bus. Afterwards, we got stuck (again) in another very long queue at the ground floor of terminal 1 "Gate 26", where there is queueing lines for flights departing from gates 26 A-G. 

After queuing and taking the bus, we finally arrived at gate 26F (Parking space 1). The time was approximately 10:25, 1 hour behind scheduled boarding time. The whole boarding procedure (Mostly to blame Sydney Airport) is very messy, complicated, and time-consuming. There is, of course, some queue on the stairs, as we slowly proceeded to board the aircraft from the ground.

We boarded through the stairs, which is still fine as this is an A330. I do enjoy taking a good look at the aircraft, though! The push back truck was already attached to the aircraft itself as we were boarding (See picture below)

cabin and seat

The aircraft I am taking today is VH-QPA, the first Airbus A330-303 delivered to Qantas back in November 2003, making it 19.8 years old at the time of flight. The aircraft is nicknamed "Kununurra", consisting of 28 Business seats in 1-2-1 configuration and 289 Economy seats in 2-4-2 configuration, as being re-configured in January 2015. 

My seat is 53A, a window seat on the left of the aircraft between doors 3 and 4. The seat consists of a touch screen IFE screen, with a USB port and headphone port located underneath. This is followed by a small storage compartment. A foldable tray table is also featured, alongside with a larger storage compartment with in-flight magazine and safety demonstration card.

The seat gives me 31 inches of legroom, which is quite fine for me (5'8"). The seat also features an adjustable head rest and it is reclineable. As for amenities, a headphone, pillow, and blanket is provided, but I do not have a photograph of these items. Overall, I think the refurbished seat is quite nice for a long haul journey, and functions are overall useful.

Takeoff

After being pushed back and the safety video, we finally managed to taxi to runway 16R. The taxiing is surprisingly short, taking around 2 minutes maximum, as gate 26F is located right next to runway 16R.

We took off at 11:13, 1 hour behind schedule. We had a powerful (and seemingly relatively short) takeoff from 16R.

The parallel runway, 16L/ 34R, can also be seen after takeoff, along with the cargo loading areas.

Flaps were retracted shortly after. 

We eventually headed Northwest towards our destination. I'm seeing the West Sydney Airport under construction at a distance, I suppose?

Bye-bye, Sydney! We then flew over the wild New South Wales, with the seemingly endless landscape scenery. Enjoy the view!

first meal service | lunch

40 minutes after takeoff, we were served with a pre-meal snack.

It was a nut and pretzel mix, giving savory and acidic flavors, which is desirable for stimulating my taste buds mid-air. I personally enjoy this combination of flavors, and this is served with a beverage.

As I was finishing the bag of pretzel mix and waiting for the main course, I enjoyed the view of the Simpson Desert, Queensland, with a few rivers running in between every now and then. A once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Another 30 minutes later (which seems to be slightly long…?), the main course was served as well. Qantas show their meal choices on their new in-flight entertainment system (which differs from that of my last flight with older seats), and Economy class passengers can choose among 3 options: Asian vegetarian, Oriental, and Western.

Obviously, as a firm believer that risk-taking is not favorable, I always stuck to the Western option instead of the Oriental ones, as Qantas is a non-Asian carrier. I chose the Chicken schnitzel parmigiana with sweet potato mash, which is served with a focaccia, like other long-haul meals out of Sydney. Wooden curtery is provided in a pack.

Visually, the meal portioning is a bit small as usual, especially with the lack of side dishes which is common in post-pandemic Qantas. Indeed, reheated food on planes never really remained crispy, so I was quite confused when I was having the chicken covered in bread crumbs, especially when it is covered in tomato sauce. In spite of that, the sweet potato mash is really filling, and I really enjoyed such a combination. 

I really like the garlic sea salt and rosemary focaccia. It is by far the best type of bread roll I have ever had, it was fragrant and absolutely delicious. Overall, I give a 8/10 for this meal. Nice job, Qantas!

There was also an "Iconic Australian ice cream" for dessert as we flew over the desert (pun intended :D), which is a splice pine lime ice cream. Nothing can go wrong with that. Qantas might wish to do better by providing more side dishes along with their flights.

in-flight entertainment

I do not recall much about the IFE system. It is a functioning touch-screen TV, with a nice selection of movies, music, and TV shows featured. The map, as usual, is not as interactive than other airlines, because the dimensions of the maps are being pre-set and fixed. Interestingly on this flight, the menu items are shown on the screen, which is a nice feature for an individual who has difficulty in decision-making (me). Overall, it is still quite nice for a long-haul.

mid-flight

As the aircraft soared through the skies of the wild Australian deserts, I enjoyed the scenery outside the window, with constantly changing geographical features. That's why you should book a window seat for your Australian flights!

The more North we go, more vegetation and clouds start to appear. This is near Northern Territory.

I deliberately waited until the aircraft has flown past the Northern Australian shoreline before I went to sleep. We went pass Cape Stewart, Northern Territory 3.5 hours after departure. Last piece of land on the Australian coastline!

Goodbye, Australia! Hello, vast sea!

I was in heavy fatigue and desperately needed sleep, as I only got 2 hours of rest the night before and has stayed up for 12+ hours already (I couldn't miss any of the sunrise on my last flight so I stayed totally awake!). I then took a nap for 2-3 hours, before waking up over Southern Philippines and feeling very dehydrated like the previous flight I flew into Australia. Why are A330s so dry?

My neighbor was asleep, so I had to jump over the seat to get some water from the galley. The cabin crew are generally helpful. I did not really notice any self-served snacks in the galley, though.

I returned to my seat, jumping over my neighbor again, and did some more games and movies. There was slight turbulence when we were flying over cloudy Philippines. The cabin was mainly in blind-down as passengers are mostly taking a rest.

second meal service | dinner?

This meal was served 1.5 hours before landing. From what I saw from the menu, it says "prior to arrival", therefore I am unsure about the intention of the meal. It is more like in between of afternoon tea and an early dinner, I assume?

This time, two options were provided: a vegetarian Western option, and an oriental one. Needless to say, I went for the western option once again, which is a sage and lemon ravioli with kale and Napolitana sauce, served with another focaccia. On the other hand, the Chinese option is a fried rice with chicken. As shown on the IFE system, the meal was served with another focaccia.

I have already eaten the focaccia as the picture was taken. As for the ravioli, it is obvious how that is a vegetarian option, as there was diced up pumpkin all over! That can be quite filling, to be honest. There is sage sauce all over the ravioli as well. However, I'm not too sure where the lemon is, as I was unable to taste any. I think there is a lot of ravioli as well. So even the meal portions look quite small, this particular one is very filling unexpectedly. A 9/10 for the taste!

I paired up my meal with some fizzy drinks. Fascinatingly, the menu also mentioned a dessert, the raspberry blondie slice, but I did not see it being served I believe? I don't understand why that is.

approach and landing

It was near sunset time in Hong Kong. As we were flying in from the South into Hong Kong, a clear sunset can be seen, with reflections over the sea.

We then took the longer approach path for runway 25R. Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the Victoria Harbour in between, at a distance (Pic 1). We flew over Sai Kung and Sha Tin (Pic 2). Afterwards, we saw the Victoria Harbour once again, at a distance (Pic 3), before seeing Tsing Yi and Tsuen Wan on our final approach (Pic 4). Before landing, we also saw the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge security facilities on an artificial island (Pic 5).

On final approach, with the constructing T2 building and T1 at a distance.

We then touched down at runway 25R at 17:59, 4 minutes later than scheduled. Back to reality :(

After a long taxi, we parked at gate 11 at the main terminal building, and disembarked slightly late. 

Immigration and baggage claim is mostly smooth and rapid, as our parking gate was very close to the customs desks.

I would also like to address on the delayed flight on the day after I came back, which involves over 20+ of delay on 27 Aug 2023, and I think someone has done a flight report on that. Qantas really have to take note of their time management issues, as delays often get very long and affects passengers' schedules.
This marks the end of my Australian series of flight report! Please stay tuned to my upcoming flight reports, and thank you for reading.