Flight Information
Airline: Cathay Pacific (CX)
Flight Number: CX303 (CPA303D)
Route: PVG - HKG
Aircraft: Boeing 777-367
Registration: B-HNM
Seat: 42K
STD (ATD): 0710L (1028L)
STA (ATA): 1010L (1248L)
Flight Time: 02:20
The last sector of my trip for Air China's 747 would be my flight back to ICN. I had a few options for this whole trip, tracing my steps back to base with round trip flights, or just making a bee line back on the cheapest flight, just to name a few.
In the end, I ended up snatching what I would call a pretty nice deal from PVG to ICN via HKG on Cathay. They were offering flights via HKG for as low as 917 CNY.
Out of all the Cathay itineraries available on the website, I had a few criterions for how I'd approach this. First of all, I wanted to get a nice, long transfer time at HKG to check out the city itself, as I had never been to HK. Second, I wanted to keep my stay in Shanghai tightly packed, so about 3 or 4 days. I really didn't want to spend extra days somewhere I weren't too interested in just for the sake of the aviation experience. Also, I wanted to fly on different types for the two flights, which is natural for people like me.
This would've been my preferred itinerary. The layover at HKG was a bit short, but it was acceptable. Also, I'd fly on Cathay's A350 and the aging 777-300 which is very valuable in itself. However, the issue here was that the lowest price offered for this itinerary was scheduled to depart on the 26th at the earliest. Like I wrote above, I didn't want to spend a few extra days just for this.
So, this is what I ended up getting. A very early morning flight out of PVG to HKG, a nice 23 hours to enjoy HK and then the return back to Korea. I was pretty let down that I couldn't manage something with the A350 involved, but I guess there would be plenty of opportunity to fly them later, as opposed to the 777-300. There was an option to fly on the A321neo about an hour earlier for the flight back to ICN, but I concluded I'd rather fly on the 773 twice than fly on the NEO.
I also went with the 'Essential' package and not the 'Light', because I always go safe with my seat selection by selecting at the earliest possible time, and crunching up the numbers the essential package was better in value, compared to the light package with manually picked paid seat selections.
I arrived at PVG at 4 in the morning after pulling an all-nighter. I reserved a taxi via the local taxi app which set me back about 190 CNY. I weighed up on whether I should take the last Line 2 train from the day before and just spend the night at the airport, but decided against it as I had a very physically challenging day planned ahead at HK.
Three hours before departure, people were queued up waiting for the check in desks to open at 4:30, if I remember correctly.
This was where I was supposed to go, but got guided to the First class desk as there were no First class passengers and the Economy line was getting pretty packed.
Got a physical boarding pass, which I always prefer.
At the desk, I was given three things. Two boarding passes, and another for the bag tag. Pretty good how just one piece of paper makes the whole thing look so organized, as to sticking it randomly on the back of the boarding pass.
At 5am, I made my way to immigration, which started with these gates which opens when you scan your boarding pass. A group of elderly people were having a pretty hard time getting it to scan causing a bit of a bottleneck. Is it that hard?
The early morning departure board from PVG. With China being this in-the-middle country between the world and the isolated, it creates a nice opportunity to check out some exotic traffic. Aurora used to also have flights to ICN from VVO, before COVID managed to derail things. Vladivostok was actually a pretty popular tourist destination among Koreans, and there are sayings that flights between Korea and Russia are being discussed for a return, as of July 2026.
I got these noodles with a side of some braised pork as very early breakfast. Didn't taste too bad, but the price from what I remember wasn't cheap.
Our flight today would be departing from gate D61, which is located at the very far side of the terminal. Cathay flights seem to be assigned these gates at the very far end, as it was the case for the afternoon departures when I was travelling through PVG last summer.
Like I always do, I took a walk around the terminal for the traffic. The difference in lighting made the window reflections unavoidable, but I tried my best fiddling around with the exposure. Two things I want to address, one has to do with these early morning Emirates flights out of China. At PEK and here at PVG, there are flights departing around 6 in the morning after arriving late at night the day before. I think the PEK flight was on an A380. I am just amazed that that many people are willing to get to the airport at 4am for a favorable transfer. Another thing, Thai deployed the A350 on the BKK-PVG route for NW25, but for some reason a 77W was deployed today.
I also managed to get a snap of Air China's A350 in the Star Alliance livery, registered B-308M. It had arrived from its long haul flight from Europe. Again, the reflections kills it a bit, but still was happy to get a glimpse.
Pretty light terminal, when it comes to passenger numbers. The day was yet to properly begin.
This Blue Bottle was packed, though.
With about 7 daily flights between PVG and HKG, excluding flights to SHA, you can tell this route is a very popular one. In the foreground, on the left, my ride to HKG operating CX303, registered B-HNM. On the right, the 8:30 departure registered B-HNS. At the back, the A330 will be operating the 9:30.
B-HNM at the gate ready for boarding. The long 777-300 without GE90s makes the plane feel kind of empty. Don't know how many of these are left operating, but Cathay will probably be the sole operator of the 777-300 when Korean Air retires them as scheduled, at the end of 2026.
This is the engine I'd be seeing throughout the flight from seat 42K, which I purposefully selected for this exact reason. Just from this picture, the engine seems to be showing its age.
With the way the gates are set up at PVG, it can seem like you're boarding a different plane. But, after getting your ticket checked, you walk all the way to the left, bypassing the other plane.
Like so, It does provide a nice view of the other plane.
View from my seat, 42K. I don't know if it was mentioned on the website, but the forward Economy seats have extra legroom. I selected this seat just for the engine view, but ended up very impressed with the legroom, not knowing it was all because it was indeed, an extra legroom seat.
Seeing Hong Kong as the destination on the IFE brings a tingle to my body. I had always wanted to visit HK, and it was finally coming to fruition.
The safety video played before we pushed back. I don't know if it was a new version, but it showed Cathay's 80th anniversary at the end of the video. Throughout the trip I couldn't miss just how devoted Cathay was in promoting their 80th anniversary. Just makes me wonder how big they'll go for their 100th!
It was a very rainy day at Shanghai. Thankfully it rained when I was on my way out, as I had only seen the sun for the 4 days I was in Shanghai.
A view of the cabin as we waited for the engines to get running.
I also checked the seatback pocket. The magazine was, of course, plastered with their 80th anniversary. Pretty interesting that Cathay mentions the company aircraft type code on the safety card. They seem to be utilizing these codes pretty extensively on their website as well.
As I was getting curious as to why the startup was taking so long, it was announced that there was an issue with the anti ice system in the engine, which made our plane return back to gate where the mechanics were waiting to take a look.
They ended up opening the cowling, and I braced for a lengthy delay. The captain announced about a 2-hour delay.
Fighting through the boredom, I took a look at the magazine. Very interesting that they already have the A350F and the A330neo listed as their fleet, not to mention the last of the latecomers, the 777X.
Very cool!
And again!
A pair of headphones was provided on every seat inside the seatback pockets. I'd say it's one of the more high-quality ones offered in Economy, so no complaints there.
I went to the bathroom and took a look at the Economy cabin. The 3-4-3 really does make the cabin feel very dense, and the aisles very narrow. In Korea at least, it's pretty hard to find 3-4-3 config 777s, which is good, but it also shows that Korean carriers don't really pay attention to the global trends.
The seat can be used extensively, satisfying pretty much every need.
As the crew realized that this wouldn't be a short delay, they managed to contact the ground staff and got some emergency snacks prepared in just over an hour into the delay. The mechanical issue was not their fault, but they have managed to take responsibility and make up for the delay and the frustration, even if it's nothing much.
About 90 minutes after we returned back to gate, the cowlings were shut and the passengers could see the end of this game of waiting. I was seriously concerned about maybe having to deboard and then maybe having to be rebooked, but it all seemed to be resolved.
To add salt to the wounds, the A330 scheduled for the 9:30 flight pushes back when we still aren't certain on whether we'll take off or not.
After a 2 hour and 20 minutes delay due to a mechanical issue - plus another 15 minutes due to congestion, we finally managed to push back. Also, with my spotting eyes never resting, we got a glimpse of a plane that is getting more difficult to see year after year, an Aeroflot 77w. It used to fly to ICN from SVO even during COVID days, so I was pretty happy to see it again.
Making our way out of rainy Shanghai.
Aha! Another gem found at PVG, a Mahan Air A340-600. It operates regular flights to PVG and CAN, I believe, on their A340s. Would love to have gotten a better snap of the beauty, but the raindrops unfortunately made this the best shot I was able to manage.
We entered runway 34L for our long awaited takeoff out of PVG.
We took off without much issue, with a pretty short takeoff roll by the 777-300 standards. The low growling or the buzz of the RR engine made my seat selection very much worth the money. If I'm flying on one, I must get the full experience, right?
After rotating, we were stuck inside the clouds for about 15 minutes, just highlighting the bad weather in the area.
Another view from my seat.
What a view! It's pretty rare to be able to get an engine view out the windows in an Economy class seat on a widebody, but thanks to the ultra high density configuration on this 777, it is entirely possible.
Breakfast was served, which was a choice between a congee and the classic omelet. I went with the omelet, which I actually regretted, just because it wasn't the regional pick which I always choose by. The omelet itself was good, as good of an omelet as you can get in the skies.
As always, I do my best to leave a nice photo summarizing the whole experience.
After about 90 minutes of flying, we were already on arrival into HKG. The screen is seen at an angle because I had been utilizing the empty middle seat's screen for a nice flight map, while I was finishing up watching The Apprentice.
It's definitely time to descend, now.
We took a very compromised route on arrival into HKG, most probably due to congestion.
Cathay also provides connecting flight information on the IFE, though it is no guarantee that a regular passenger will make use of this info provided.
As we continue our approach into HKG, some of the islands start being seen.
We touched down at HKG on 1248L, about 2 hours and 30 minutes behind schedule.
Ah yes, the firefighting training equipment, with three engines. ICN also has a similar structure next to runway 34L, which combined the hump of the 747 and the rear of a DC-10.
Not just an A350 for Singapore Airlines, but with a 10,000th Airbus aircraft sticker. This particular frame has a C42W24Y187 configuration for long haul flights.
We park at our gate, with the sky bridge in our sights. Definitely a realization moment that I actually made it to Hong Kong,
I took one last look at my seat before deboarding. The seat, being located at the front, had amazing legroom and perfect window placement to take a look out of, but let's not mention the width.
Also taking a look at this ancient Business cabin, it really isn't hard to see that this is a plane made just for short haul. I mean, who'd seriously put some 2-3-2 configured Business product on the long haul market in big 2026? You've got to be kidding me!
Our gate sign with the VDGS showing the local time.
One last look at our ride, which was eventful enough, with the sky bridge in the background. Let's go a bit left to get the fuselage in shot without the bridge blocking the view.
Oh man if it wasn't for that pole. Later I'll also be posting my final flight CX410 to ICN on the 773, but I also didn't manage to get a nice snap of the plane there as well.
On the far right, there was B-5976, which is a China Eastern A330 in the Disney Resort livery, but it was physically impossible to get a shot of. As of writing, I'm thinking maybe I should've gotten a shot while I was still in the airplane, just making my way to the other side. But in that moment I was too busy making my way out because the delay had very much messed up my plans for the day.
All in all, I'd say it was a nice flight all things considered. The technical issue was not something that the crew could have done anything about, but their management of the situation really made them shine. The meal was very good considering it was breakfast, and I'd say after being airborne it all went very smooth. If I had to get a last tackle in, I'd say from the very roots of the issue, it is the airline which still flies these old frames which are more prone to problems, even if the maintenance is carried out like any other model. But, I think that all is getting a bit far.
In the end I arrived in Hong Kong without picking up my suitcase as it was through checked all the way to ICN.
I made my way past another 80 years ad,
to the platform for the AEL.
