Review of Cathay Pacific flight Milan Hong Kong in First

Airline Cathay Pacific
Flight CX234
Class First
Seat 1K
Aircraft Boeing 777-300ER
Flight time 11:20
Take-off 12 Jul 14, 13:15
Arrival at 13 Jul 14, 06:35
CX   #2 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 509 reviews
adrianfong
By 1872
Published on 15th July 2014
Greetings Flight-Report.com,

My Previous FRs:
CX494 HKG-TPE B77W J:http://flight-report.com/en/report-5713.html
CX234 MXP-HKG B77W J:http://flight-report.com/en/report-5733.html
OZ745 ICN-HKG A388 J (Inaugural):http://flight-report.com/en/report-7282.html

Introduction

This is the first flight report on Cathay Pacific's mid-life refreshed FCL product.

Following my amazing holiday in Italy the previous summer, I decided to revisit the country but this time for the second tier cities. Having based in Milan, I made several short day trips around Northern Italy.

Bergamo:

photo DSC_8635

Lake Como:

photo DSC_9031photo DSC_9040

Cinque Terre:

photo DSC_9943photo DSC_10000 (62)

Having flown in from Hong Kong, the only direct flight option was on Cathay with the CX233/234 service. I was booked on J class for both legs, but with around 100,000 CXAM miles to kill I tried for an upgrade with miles online. Upgrading from Business to First on HKG-MXP would cost 50,000 miles per leg, but it came to my attention soon after that the premium cabins were often full on this route. My agent suggested me to try again at check in on the day as it is common for CX to release seats at the very last minute. I ran out of luck on the outbound, so I kept my fingers crossed and hoped to be second time lucky.

Pre-departure

As I've been on this flight last year, I did have a pretty good idea in managing the time needed to travel to Malpensa. However, as I was staying in the Park Hyatt this time round, I was told to take the Malpensa Express thru Cadorna Stazione rather than Centrale. Cadorna was only 5 minutes away from the hotel and the journey itself took ~30 minutes compared to the 50 minutes if I was to board from Centrale.

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Check-In
I found myself in the basement of MXP shortly after 1000, with more than three hours before the 1315 departure time.

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The Check-in counters were almost deserted when I have arrived, and I figured that I would have a very good chance of being upgraded if only a few J class pax have checked in. After some quick phone calls, the check-in agent confirmed that only one passenger was booked into F, and my upgraded was granted! She even gone out of her way in asking for my seat preference:) Being seated in row 1 has always been a personal favourite, so with 1A taken, my next best option for a window seat would be 1K.

The agent soon handed me my BP and Lounge Invitation.

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Tarmac:

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Like last year, the most time consuming part when flying out of MXP was to go through Customs for the VAT items. Worst still, an Air China flight to Shanghai departs around the same time as we do. We all know that Mainland Chinese Tourists (in Milan)=lots of shopping. Just queuing up costed me a good 45min.

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Boarding and Flight

I got everying settled at approx 1115, a little more an hour before boarding at 1230. The F/J class lounge at MXP was compact but is surely does not have the variety of any of the HKG lounges. I grabbed a few drinks and some snacks before walking down towards our gate for some plane spotting.

My ride today, B-KPS (My second time on this a/c)

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The albino SQ Star Alliance cs, 9V-SWJ, being pushed back for a return flight to SIN as SQ366

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Boarding began slightly late at 12:35, with First and Business class pax invited to board first.

Boarding thru door L1

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Once onboard the plane, I was warmly welcomed by my name. The ISM came by to introduce herself and offered me drinks/newspaper.

Amuse Bouche

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Some cabin shots

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All 6 First class seats were occupied, so were the other classes. In other words 100% load factor:P

Captain A. Sealey soon came over the PA welcoming us onboard and announced that the flight time today would be a short 10h45m

Flight path:

photo Image (100)

The cabin crew came by to give us the amenity kits by Ergemglido (Trussadi for ladies) with Aesop lotions. I really like the Aesop product, probably the best lotion that comes with an amenity kit. Kudos Cathay!

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Our flight was soon underway with pushback 4 mins earlier than schedule, and we were airborne 15 mins later.

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As we climb to our crusing altitude of FL350, the ISM came to offer me nuts and wine. Cathay had a special wine promotion featuring 4 Bordeaux Reds.

Cashews with Chateau Dassault, Grand Cru Classe Saint-Emillion 2004

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The famous Cavier service soon came by together with creme fraiche.

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…and mixed greens with smoked mozzarella

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Cream Chowder

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My personal favourite of this meal service must be the charcoal grilled rack of lamb. Extremely juicy and very well cooked. Does shut a few critics up with this fantastic piece of meat.

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I was too full after such good food and skipped desert.

I spent a bit of time looking around my comfortable suite:

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And the toilet of course

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I soon went to sleep in this comfortable pod…

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…and the next thing I knew, the FAs were already serving breakfast. As much as I wanted to try the freshly cooked scrambled egg, my stomach didnt have the room after feasting in Italy and I only went for a fruit plate.

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The captain once again came over the PA announcing that we have commenced decent into HKIA, with an estimated touch down time of 0555. We were over 40 mins ahead of schedule.

The final minutes of the flight was rather uneventful, with the pilot making a near perfect landing.

Well there we are, my long anticipated first class ride with CX. Absolutely happy in terms of hard product, food, wine, and crew. I'm also very happy to see Cathay doing so well on this route.

Some cockpit shots:

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And CX's newest 77W – B-KQN

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THE END

Thank you so much for reading










See more

Verdict

Cathay Pacific

9.3/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew9.5
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering9.5

Generic Airport Lounge Sala Pergolesi

7.5/10
Comfort7.0
Meal/catering7.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Services7.0

Milan - MXP

7.5/10
Efficiency7.0
Access8.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness8.0

Hong Kong - HKG

9.1/10
Efficiency9.5
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

Very very happy to see Cathay offer a first class product that is of such high standard, which definitely sets itself apart from its competitors. I sincerely hope that they can maintain this quality and I look forward to flying more on F with them in the future. A very satisfying experience all round!

Comments are most welcome:)

Related

13 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 112928 by
    02022001 GOLD 4375 Comments
    Thanks very much !
  • Comment 112933 by
    Airline Spotter 91 Comments
    What a beautiful experience aboard the 777-300ER! Thanks a lot!!
  • Comment 112934 by
    SMilano 1284 Comments
    Thank's for sharing !

    CX offer a very nice hard product in first class !
    The catering proposed by CX is really tasty

    A really good experience in first aboard the beautiful B77W !
  • Comment 112940 by
    Numero_2 TEAM BRONZE 10416 Comments
    Thanks for sharing.

    How lucky you were to get an upgrade at the very last moment before the flight !

    We all know that Mainland Chinese Tourists (in Milan)=lots of shopping -> lol

    Very classy caviar service with a mother of pearl spoon.
    The rest of the meal doesn't impress me that much, as lamb can be found in many other Business classes.

    What about the wine list ?

    A First Class flight is always an experience, and CX seems to provide its pax a relaxing, peaceful and luxurious journey.
  • Comment 112946 by
    Hcl75 1538 Comments
    What a great flight with one of the best airlines!
    The F cabin refurbishment is not a revolution but a new seat is always nice.
    As often with CX the first course looks great but the main one is not reaaally impressive.
    I would appreciate a picture of the wine list as well. What champagne was suggested?
    Thanks for sharing this great experience!
  • Comment 112965 by
    pititom GOLD 11489 Comments
    Thanks for sharing ! This is a great FR on a great product. CX really delivers a top quality service and I'm impressed by the catering, executed to perfection.

    Thanks again :)
  • Comment 112967 by
    indianocean SILVER 7572 Comments
    Thank you so much for this beauutifuul report.
    New cabin, new service, new amenity kit. What's inside the white pouch? No picture of the new PJ?
    I almost regret not to fly with CX this year.
    Did you say hello to George?
  • Comment 112978 by
    padawan SILVER 1996 Comments
    First of all, great pictures !!
    Very nice First Class product. The sink looks more like an hotel than an airplane one.
    Thks for this report !
  • Comment 112985 by
    rom1plane 227 Comments
    Thanks for this great FR, very nice views from Italy and the cockpit!
  • Comment 112987 by
    lagentsecret 12186 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this great FR

    Gorgeous pictures

    Nice tourist bonus

    You've been lucky to have this upgrade at the check in

    Nice cabin and very comfortable seat but I can't really see what's new

    The catering looks good but not outstanding

    Beautiful pictures of the cockpit
  • Comment 112997 by
    SKYTEAMCHC GOLD 10071 Comments
    Thanks for sharing with us this great Flight Report !
    Always great to be upgraded in F.
    The experience looks nice and very confortable, close to a restaurant and hotel feeling . I also appreciate Aesop products and it's a very good choice from CX.
    Malpensa is really in need of works to make it a more modern , efficient and nice looking airport.
  • Comment 113013 by
    jetsetpanda 2283 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this lovely report and bonus full of outstanding pictures.

    It would have been nice to see the lounge at MXP, even though it was not up to standards.

    Kudos to CX for serving caviar with the right utensils. Balik salmon and caviar are almost synonymous of flying CX F. Your meals looked fine but somehow they seem underwhelming compared to LX or SQ on a similar route. I think CX should adopt meal reservations in F just like SQ.

  • Comment 113083 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Beautiful Report with gorgeous pictures as always! CX does indeed have a nice F product--I think the great soft product in flight really makes it as the Suite itself is not revolutionary. That's awesome that you got to visit the cockpit!

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