Review of Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London in Economy

Hello everyone, welcome to another flight report!
I was on a trip to the UK. This time, instead of travelling with British Airways (Mediocre experience, read it LATER), I have opted to fly with Cathay Pacific. 
It's nice to try out and different airlines once in a while. I will attempt to compare Cathay with British Airways, the only other operator (competitor) on the HKG-LHR route, which I have flown a few months earlier. I hope you'll enjoy this experimental format. Join me on this trip as I fly from Hong Kong to London Heathrow's Terminal 3!

Aircraft: B-LRU (Airbus A350-900)
Age of aircraft as of flight: 7.3 years
Flight number: CX237
Scheduled flight time: 00:15 (+8) - 07:00 (UTC) | 14h45m
Actual flight time: 00:41 (+8) - 06:23 (UTC) | 13h42m
Seat: 68A (Economy)

Booking

Check-in was available 48 hours before taking off, for Cathay green card holders. Free seat selection is available with Economy Light, where I was not assigned to any seat. My ticket also includes 23kg of baggage and 7kg of hand-carry and personal item, combined.

Arrival at the airport

I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport's terminal 1 by bus the night before departure. 

The airport is full of lights and decorations as a celebration of Christmas, featuring Santa Claus lying above the entrance.

I then checked the departure board. The flight today is the 00:15 CX237, which departs at midnight the next day. If you looked closely, the check-in counters are located at aisle B, C, and F.

I decided to go to aisle F, but only found check-in counters for China Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, and Philippine Airlines. This is the first mistake I made today, with the second mistake being walking to aisle B, which is dedicated to business class passengers.

Frustrated, I ended up going to aisle C where most of the Cathay passengers are. There is staff assistance guiding passengers to check-in, with more than 7 counters in operation. The procedure is overall rapid, even with multiple CX flights checking in at the same time, it doesn't take long to queue and complete the check-in procedures.

Security is done quickly as it was off-peak hours at night in Hong Kong.

After security, some very christmas-y decorations can be seen:

I decided to walk to our gate, gate 45, where passengers are normally recommended to take the APM to travel there. But hey if we've got the time, why not walk around and do some planespotting? So I walked to the skybridge (Between gates 12 and 24) and took a few nice photos.

Many European flights depart midnight so there are many nice aircraft to spot. On my way to my gate, I saw plenty of them, here to name a few:
This is a Swiss Boeing 777 departing to Zurich.

And a Lufthansa LH797 to Frankfurt, operated by an Airbus A340-600 D-AIHF, which will be featured in an upcoming flight report :))
(I will fly on this very same aircraft a few months later, stay tuned!)

After some walking, we have arrived at gate 45, where our flight today departs from:

Boarding

Flying us to Heathrow today is B-LRU, an Airbus A350-941 delivered in October 2017, and is 7.3 years old as of the time of the flight. The aircraft features 38 Business seats, 28 Premium economy seats and 214 economy seats, totaling 280 seats. The seats are arranged in a relatively low-density configuration, which is a good sign in my opinion.

Aww look at that eyemask of the A350… So beautiful. (Biased opinion)

At 23:35, the scheduled boarding time (Or 40 minutes before scheduled departure time), economy passengers are instructed to line up. Passport and air tickets are verified manually at the queue, making the later boarding procedures much quicker. Appreciate the efficiency!

At 23:50, I walked down the jet bridge and boarded the aircraft.

Cabin and seat

This is a business seat. The business cabin spans across the first cabin section and two more rows behind the door 2.

The economy cabin:

And here is my seat, 68A, a window seat in the middle of the third cabin section (doors 3-4) on the left. A pillow and blanket awaits on my seat.

It features a large touch-screen TV (functioning smoothly), a coat hanger, and a USB charging port.

Underneath is a cup-and-phone holder, with a small storage compartment behind. Quite useful for charging phones in my opinion.
The USB charging port is located directly beneath the screen.

The seat features a bi-folded table with a seat pocket below. The legroom is said to be 32 inches, which is quite sufficient for me (I'm 5'8"). 
The headrest is also adjustable.
A three-pin power source can be found beneath the seat.

The contents inside the seat pocket: a safety card, an in-flight magazine, and two paper bags.

Amenities: pillow, blanket and headphones.

Headphones, if you didn't see it lurking in the corner in the last picture.

Overall, I really appreciate the functions and adequate storage spaces provided. Despite the seat showing signs of being slightly worn out due to its old age, most components function well. I find it a rather up-to-date design even though it was in use 7 years ago, making it a rather competitive product in terms of the seat design, in the past and the present. 

Personal note | Comparison with British Airways' Boeing 787-9:

My BA experience: Exposed seat fabrics, remote controlled TV, and non-adjustable headrests. 787 window button broken, USB charging port not working. An IFE box in the way of my legs.
Pillow and blankets are provided.

"I think BA's 787-9s desperately need a cabin renovation and re-configuration." –My flight report on BA27, Feb 2024.

I think Cathay did better on seating. Things are in way better condition.

Of course, it is worth noting that BA's Boeing 787-9 are moderately aged (since 2016) and are not in their newest configuration, and they certainly have newer cabins on the 787-8, 777, and A350-1000, which also serve the Hong Kong - Heathrow route. While that was the case, Cathay's A350 cabin settings has been in use since 2017, it was at the lead of the industry at the time, and still remains so.

Takeoff

A menu is distributed by the flight attendants to all passengers. To me, those are the extra steps Cathay has taken to improve the experience.
(Picture is purposefully placed horizontally to improve YOUR reading experience too XD, iykyk)

The new safety video out in 2024, showcasing the culture of Hong Kong. I think that's the streets of Central/ Causeway Bay (CBDs of HK)? Would prefer a safety video that takes place in an aircraft, though (i.e. the previous version).

The cabin door closed early and we were waiting for refueling. Afterwards, the aircraft was pushed back at 00:25, 10 minutes behind scheduled. 

We proceeded to taxi to runway 07R, which is followed by a rolling take-off at 00:41 (25 minutes late). How brilliant it is when you have little to no traffic at night, and you can get going such quickly.

We proceeded to climb and turned South, seeing areas of Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and the Victoria Harbor before they disappeared under the clouds. We then turned North and flew into Chinese air space.
(I'm sorry for fitting that long image here but there you have it)

In-flight entertainment

I took some time exploring the in-flight entertainment system. I am genuinely impressed by the variety of choices and the easy-to-use user-interface. Here are the functions featured in the IFE system:

A huge variety of movie, TV show and game choices, mostly up-to-date:

Camera views for the belly and the tail. Unfortunately the tail camera (Top view) is famously broken on the B-LRU >:(

Map. Multiple angles are offered, and they can be easily switched and controlled by touching the screen. Map angles can be adjusted, which is a very rare sight from my past experience flying in long-haul economy… Appreciate whoever designed the IFE system in Cathay!

Cute little A350 animation shown on map. 

Captain's angle. Perfect for avgeeks.

Also to those of you curious about internet access… Here you go.

Overall, I am very impressed by the IFE system. Not only does it offer a huge variety of options, they are also up to date, easy to navigate and can be easily controlled using your two fingers on the touch screen. This is what I would describe as the desired IFE system for a long-haul flight, as you won't get bored or frustrated by its contents/ user interface.

Personal note | Comparison with BA:

"However, it is quite difficult to navigate and find what you like in the entertainment system. It's already considered impressive given the old age of the aircraft and outdated seat hardware." –My flight report on BA28, Feb 2024.

I'm not sure how BA is doing nowadays with their newer A350-1000 service (As of June 2025). I do hope they have an improved IFE system and seat hardware. It's worth noting that BA has quite a large selection of IFE items as well so nothing to complain about that. BA still needs to do better to compete (or at least match up with) with Cathay on this duopoly/ oligopoly HKG-LHR non-stop route, and offer a better experience, simply by providing working touch screens.

First meal service | Dinner

The cabin is adjusted to mood lighting for dinner, and to prepare passengers to rest.

A bottle of water is distributed.

The following items are served as dinner (In inaccurate terms, you may refer to menu above):
Sides: Smoked turkey and pasta salad, fruit cup (Dragon fruit, cantaloupe, watermelon), bread roll.
Main (Choose 1 out of 3):
1. HK style option - Fried fish in corn sauce, with rice (粟米魚柳飯)
2. Western option - Lemon tomato chicken with peas, carrots, with mashed potatoes
3. Vegetarian/ HK style option - Spicy mushrooms and vegetarian meat, with green bean cauliflower fried rice (香辣杏鮑菇燴素肉 欖菜四季豆椰菜花炒飯)
Dessert: Haagen Dazs ice cream
Beverages: Apple juice, orange juice, tomato juice, coffee, tea, sodas, beer, wine.

My neighbour went for the HK style option - Fried fish in corn sauce, with rice (粟米魚柳飯)

And my neighbour's neighbour's Western option - Lemon tomato chicken with peas, carrots, with mashed potatoes.

Obviously, since Cathay is not an European airline, therefore my rule of "Always choosing the Western option" does not apply here. I have gone for the vegetarian option (Option 3).

Brilliant job on the catering here, Cathay.

Let's talk about the main course. The mushrooms and sauce are flavourful, the spice is not over-powering, and Cathay got the rice right. The fried rice is fluffy and cooked right to the spot. Approved by Hong Konger.

Well coincidentally since my neighbours are my travel companions (they actually are from the beginning), I also had a taste of their meals. Cathay also got the corn fish and rice right, it is such an iconic Hong Kong dish, so great job presenting the culture of Hong Kong to passengers. However, the chicken and mash turned out to be a bit mushy… That option is alright I guess, at least everything is there. Maybe airlines only specialise and do well in their local cuisine.

Side dishes. A cold pasta salad can't get us anywhere, nobody has a special love for them, they just got it fine I guess. Everything is there and nothing tastes bad. Fruits are fruits and they taste alright, nothing special. Same for the warm bread roll.

Dessert: the ice cream that we all crave for. Cathay is well-known for providing Haagen Dazs ice cream on their flights, regardless of it being long or short haul, and that's one of the reason I picked Cathay. That's the dessert we all would hope for on an aircraft :)

Special mentions: metal cutlery, wet wipes.

Portioning is ok. A 9.5/10 for the meal, frankly it's one of the best I've had.

Personal note | Comparison with BA:

"This meal is terrible yet extremely confusing."
"I have already avoided the worst by not choosing the Chinese option."
–My flight report on BA28, Feb 2024.

"I think this meal is quite average, it's not the worst I've seen, but it could've been better."
–My flight report on BA27, Feb 2024.

I think Cathay did a way better job than BA on catering. And both airlines did a great job highlighting their local culinary cultures (Hong Kong style vs British food… ugh). Jokes aside, the two airlines are on two extreme ends on the "catering deliciousness" spectrum. Cathay did a great job compared to BA, and I wish Cathay can keep up their good work and set the good standard for other airlines.

After the meal, I went for a sleep. The following picture shows a random Chinese metropolitan area (I think it's Guangzhou?)

Casually flying North then West towards central Asia.

Mid-flight snack

Well well… After 4 hours of good sleep (or so), I started to get hungry and went to the galley for food. Fruits, drinks and packaged snacks were offered on the island table of the galley.

I noticed the presence of "Egg tarts" on the menu, so I asked the flight attendant for it. However, she seemed a bit annoyed when asked to reheat 3 egg tarts (including those for my travelling companions). I also asked for a cup noodle.

The egg tart is the highlight of them all… I saw Cathay advertising about their egg tarts (exclusively on outbound HK flights) on social media platforms and how they experimented with different recipes to get things right in the air. Well all I can say is… it's good. They got the egg tart right to perfection. The fragrance and taste of egg custard and the tart shell are there. Things might be a bit different though, like the tart shell is slightly not crispy enough, the custard filling is slightly dry… BUT WHO CARES WHEN YOU'VE GOT A HONG KONG STYLE EGG TART IN THE AIR!

Cathay-branded pot noodle. It's always nice to have some of that midnight, when you're craving for some food. Tastes like the usual ones. Heard from somewhere else that they pre-soak the noodles, and only pour in hot water when the passenger requests for one, but once again WHO CARES WHEN YOU HAVE POT NOODLE IN THE AIR!

Personal note | Comparison with BA:

I'm not saying BA did anything wrong this time, they also provided snacks, drinks and pot noodle mid-flight, but Cathay has once again taken a step further and brought things to perfection. Cathay attempted showcasing Hong Kong culture throughout the catering services, and absolutely nailed it. 

Mid-flight at night

A few vertical snapshots while I suffer from insomnia (but I had a few very long and sound sleeps, thanks to the A350 pressurised cabin):

Casually flying across Central Asia:

Played a few games of mahjong. One little flaw how the game system doesn't recognise my "winning" (食糊) when I already have 3 sets + 1 pair of direction pieces, just waiting for the remaining set to form (中文：已經碰3組番子 + 一對番子，差一隻索子食糊，碰索子的時候系統不知道我食糊)
If you understand what I'm describing about please comment down below, I'd like an in-depth discussion on mahjong please.
(Also, the picture below doesn't describe the game I described, just getting you an idea of what is mahjong.)

Also played a game of 2048 (This is after many failed attempts)

Oh I also turned the in-flight magazine over and found something like this:

The flight attendants closed up the curtains to block light, while chit-chatting about things. I saw a purser (HK) chatting with two other less senior crew members (Japanese/ Korean?), who sat on metal catering boxes. Frankly they're a bit noisy.

I went to have a quick conversation with them. They told me that the load factor for the flight is 100% (Of course, it's 23 December and the flight goes to the UK). The more senior purser also told me that throughout her career in Cathay, none of the London flights aren't full. I also enquired about having a cockpit visit, but here's the response:

"Have you heard about nine-eleven? Since then we have never allowed cockpit visits. If you're interested you may take a peek at the cockpit when you walk past it while deplaning, but entering is not allowed."

I proved her wrong on my return flight 7 days later, entering the A350 cockpit of B-LRG and took a picture with the entire flying crew.

Bathroom visit. Nothing special. ("Nothing" is a good thing!)

As "morning" approaches, the cabin was lit up again, ready for breakfast service.

Personal note:

I guess some of the more senior Hong Konger cabin crew are frustrated about their jobs. They are only willing to put in bare minimum effort, like many of Hong Kong office workers do, who do their job just for a living. I hope I tried my best minimising impact on others while taking pics and obtaining info for the flight report, nor act like an "annoying passenger" which I understand cabin crew members hate to deal with. Still, Cathay's cabin crew need a cheer up (perhaps resulting in better attitude?) and those are little details that matter.

Comparatively, BA's cabin crew seem much more friendly and welcoming. They conduct cabin walk-throughs at night every few minutes to offer drinks and snacks to passengers who are awake. I guess they seem more passionate about their jobs. I'd have to be brutally honest with you, but this is something Cathay needs to work on.

Second meal service | Breakfast

About 1.5 hours before landing, breakfast is served. Breakfast comes in two options:

1. Western option - Eggs, sausage, bacon, dried tomatoes, potatoes
2. Chinese option - Dim sum selection

Comes with: fruits (Dragon fruit, watermelon, pineapple), yogurt, bread roll, jam, butter, beverage of choice, and metal cutlery as usual.

I went for the western option because, I'm not sure whether I misunderstood the flight attendant, apparently she ran out of the Chinese option. Not sure if that's temporary or permanent, but I'm happy the option.
There are quite a lot of components which is nice. Still, good portioning. Everything tastes all right and to the spot, nothing went wrong or outstanding(ly good, or bad, which we definitely don't hope for).
A very standard and pleasant breakfast service, a well-deserved 9/10. 

Somewhere near Germany/ Belgium while I had my breakfast.

Landing

It was a rather squiggly approach into Heathrow (because of their curfew there…??) but it enables me to take some very nice pictures of London in the morning.

After touchdown at 06:23, 37 minutes ahead of schedule, we taxied to terminal 3 (idk which gate, probably 40 something/ the end of the concourse)

Disembarkation

We parked at the gate on time. Stepped out of the aircraft at 7am sharp, on time.

Passengers getting up for disembarkation.

One final personal note | Comparison with BA:

In terms of the entire journey, Cathay pays more attention to detail compared to BA. The high-quality hardware, software and catering etc allows CX to perfect the flying experience. Alternatively, BA needs to work hard to meet up with Cathay's standards. Considering both airlines have similar prices (BA often doesn't include baggage fees), Cathay is definitely a better option, given what they offer passengers.

Cathay is the clear winner here, and below I will not mention any further comparisons regarding BA. 

London Heathrow Terminal 3

Slight queues at immigration. Baggage claim is rapid though.

There are plenty of flights from Hong Kong to London within the two hours of morning, including 2 from BA and 3 from Cathay.

The sun has risen on our way out of the airport. This marks the end of the journey, stay tuned for the return trip!

If you're still interested, this is my flight report of BA28 HKG-LHR in Feb 2024.
And if you still want more, 
Here you go, my flight report of BA27 LHR-HKG in Feb 2024. Enjoy!