Review of Cathay Pacific flight Manchester Hong Kong in Business

Airline Cathay Pacific
Flight CX358
Class Business
Seat 23K
Aircraft Boeing 777-300ER
Flight time 11:55
Take-off 13 Dec 14, 12:00
Arrival at 14 Dec 14, 07:55
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 21498
Published on 15th December 2014
Hello FR.com

It's been three months since I last travelled when I flew back to the U.K after my summer vacation (CX251:http://flight-report.com/en/report-8055.html). I am now back at home in Hong Kong after a long anticipated flight from Manchester, and this report will walk through every detail of this new flight.

Background

Cathay Pacific announced in April 2014 that it would resume flights to Manchester, but this time as a non-stop service. As someone living in the Northeast, the new flight meant a more convenient way back as well as an alternative to the ever more crowded Hellrow. The flights commenced on 8 December, so I would be on only the 4th flight to HK.

Pre-flight

I was originally booked into Premium Economy but has requested an upgrade through the MPC system some three months prior. J class was quite empty then and I soon received my confirmation.

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I left home very early for the 7:24am train that would take me to Manchester Airport.

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The journey was about three hours and I arrived at the airport at just after 9am.

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Went on one of the skylink walkways to get to T1 where the spotting location is.

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It was quite chilly and icy but thank goodness the weather was good.

An overview of the remote stands, with my 777 waiting to be towed back to the gate:

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Three flights flying over the field

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My wings of the day, B-KQP, was finally pulled back to the terminal 2.5hrs before departure.

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The newbie with the locals in the background

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The famous MAN T2 shot: The BY 788 being de-iced before push back, next to a pair of VS jumbos.

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I took the short walk back to T2 in time for check-in

Check-in and lounge

Cathay was given a rather large check-in area with 12 counters. But even so, the Y queue was so long that it spanned across almost the whole width of the terminal

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The queue for business was short and I was checked in immediately. Speaking to the agent, she told me that J was half full but both PEY and EY was overbooked so she was expecting a lot of op-ups. Bad news for me as I was hoping for an empty mini cabin to myself.

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She soon handed me my BP as well as invitations to the Escape Lounge in MAN and the Arrival lounge for after I land.

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CX's dedicated ticketing counter

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The CX check in area is right next to the escalator that would take me to security.

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One of the perks of flying J is I get to slash the massive queue *smug face*

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… and I'm through to airside in just 5 mins (impossible if this was London)

T2 has a decent sized duty free shop and a food choice of F&B stores, not bad for a medium sized airport.

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Flight Information, would be departing from gate 206

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Headed towards the Escape lounge which is right by gate 209, in between security and our gate.

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Cathay shares a separate corner of the lounge with Delta

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The Escape Lounge unfortunately was a complete joke. There wasn't any warm food on offer and all there was was a coffee machine that didn't work properly and some ice cold sandwich that looked like a million years old to me. I have to give credit to the attendants though as they were very attentive and somehow managed to get me a bowl of tomato soup. Nice gesture!

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I left the room utterly disappointed so I went spotting for a bit just to cheer myself up.

VS B747-400 Ruby Tuesday

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PIA's 77L AP-BGY, operating the 5th freedom LHE-MAN-JFK routing

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And finally my four month old bird, B-KQP

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Boarding

Boarding started at precisely 11:20am, again a super long Y queue

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Down the stairs and through the bridge

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Seat 23K, offering a perfect view of the mighty GE90 engine

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Pre flight welcome drinks served

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The captain soon came on the PA to announce that pushback would be delayed as they had to de-ice the wings, but also said that the flight time would be a short 10h40m due to strong tailwinds.

We left the gate some 40 mins behind schedule

Flight Information

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CX/CPA 358
A/C: B777-367ER
Reg: B-KQP (Ln 1224)
Route: EGCC-VHHH
Block Time: 10h40m
Passenger On Board: J - 40, PEY - 32, EY - 268 TOTAL - 340
Load Factor: 100%
Fuel Loaded 93.9t
T/O rating: MAX
Cruising Altitude: FL310 -> FL370

Departure Weather: CAVOK Q1011


Thomson B738 with the new split scimitar winglets

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B738 & B752

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Flight info on the control

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Rolling on Runway 23R, with the sole A380 serving MAN in the background

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Rotate!

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Turning east towards the English Channel

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Drinks was served when the plane is still in its climb

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Went for my favourite Cathay Delight with warmed nuts

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Menu was distributed

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Starters was good and I especially enjoyed the salad dressing

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The main course choices were put on a trolley and I went for the Three Cup Chicken which has become very popular in Taiwan

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The chicken was very tender and cooked in quite an authentic flavour. Always enjoyed a hot bowl of steamed rice at 30,000 feet:)

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Then came the three choices of cheese

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The Orange Chocolate cake was an absolute delight to eat! Goes extremely well with the raspberry sauce

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As we were in Northern Winter the sun set just 3 hrs into the flight

Turning the seat into a completely flat comfy bed

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To my surprise, this A/C comes with a First Class style loo

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Jurlique amenities

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Managed to sleep for a good 5 hrs, but then got a bit hungry so I ordered a bowl of Wonton noodles. The chili sauce does the magic as usual.

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Not bad for a midnight snack

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The crew set up a small snack bar in the galley, and I took some grapes and peanuts to go with my movie

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Before I knew it breakfast was served when we were 2 hrs out of HK

First muesli and fruit

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Then came my only complaint for the flight. Apparently they've ran out of breakfast choices because of the last minute op-ups and had to serve me PEY food (Also because I'm seated in the last row)

The fried noodles wasn't bad but I didn't feel good psychologically

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The sky began to light up after Breakfast and I was given a beautiful sunrise as we complete the final few hundred miles

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The Capt came on to the PA for his 30 min to landing announcement, stating good weather in HK

Short Final to 07R, the HK-Macau-Zhuhai bridge construction in the background

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Touch down, reverse on full

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We docked into gate S23 more than 30 min ahead of schedule at 7:18

No flight experience is complete (for me) without a cockpit visit

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And just for the sake of trying, The Arrival lounge. Quite small but has a few showers

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That's the end of my Manchester flight. Thanks for reading along!



































See more

Verdict

Cathay Pacific

8.9/10
Cabin9.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering8.0

Independent Escape Lounge - 2

3.9/10
Comfort3.0
Meal/catering3.0
Entertainment/wifi6.5
Services3.0

Manchester - MAN

7.4/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.0

Hong Kong - HKG

9.4/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.5
Services9.5
Cleanliness9.5

Conclusion

A very satisfying flight again. Very typical of the high quality CX service. I'm also very happy to see healthy loads on the new flight, and most certainly hope to see it go daily in the new future. Manchester Airport was quite decent for what it is but the lounges really need refurbishing as it looked old and tired.

Related

13 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 124616 by
    marathon GOLD 10116 Comments
    So they deice the planes at the gates ? Does it make it faster than when you have planes waiting at a remote deicing station like in CDG ?
    MAN posts the gate number shortly before boarding (I understand other British airports do the same), which I find ridiculously passenger - unfriendly.
    That lounge is indeed light years away from those in HKG !
    Chopsticks are somewhat unusual in planes, aren't they ?
    The bridge to Zhuhai will be a landmark when it opens - I look forward to using it if I have a chance.
    Thanks for this great report !
    • Comment 307363 by
      adrianfong AUTHOR 26 Comments
      Hi marathon,

      De-icing at the gate is a zillion times more efficient especially with a smaller airport like MAN:)

      I'm pretty sure CX serves their Chinese options with chopstick all the time

      Thanks for reading
  • Comment 124621 by
    rom1plane 227 Comments
    Thanks for the report. Very nice pictures, specially the cockpit view!
  • Comment 124642 by
    jetsetpanda 2283 Comments
    It's always a pleasure to read one of your detailed and well photographed reports.

    The main dish looks OK and it's great to see that you enjoyed it. I think that CX should have offered something more up to par with the cabin. To be honest this looks like a take away dish that you could get from any decent Chinese restaurant. A seafood option would have been more fitting in my opinion. It's a shame that you were offered a meal from the back on the second service.

    • Comment 307366 by
      adrianfong AUTHOR 26 Comments
      Thanks for those kind comments Jetsetpanda!

      What you said about the catering is very true... Especially when they have the hardware to make the flights a much better experience

      FYI I have written a complaint to MPC re the poor breakfast and got 7500 Asia miles in compensation
  • Comment 124723 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Thanks for this beautiful and well written report, as usual. Cathay just knows how to do it right! I mean, even the lavatory is nice! LOL
    Appart from the lounge in MAN, which is a total joke and definitely not on the level on CX, everything else seems perfect and that is reflected in the deserved high grades.
    Beautiful planespotting! Love love love the International Terminal shot, that famous view of MAN airport.

    I'm really surprised CX chose to put a 77W on this new route, knowing that it is a new market. However, they must have done their homework considering the healthy load factor, especially up front, which is where the money is made.

    Thanks again for sharing!
    • Comment 307457 by
      adrianfong AUTHOR 26 Comments
      Agh what a shame! I'll be leaving HK on the 13th:(

      Anyway whats your itinerary going to look like? Any interesting flights?
    • Comment 307459 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
      Ah, too bad. That's the thing with Flight-Reporters, we're always flying off somewhere :-)
      Pretty straightforward itinerary, nothing too crazy-- DCA-DFW-HKG RT with AA. Looking forward to the AA 77W.
    • Comment 307615 by
      adrianfong AUTHOR 26 Comments
      Nice! Make sure you take lots of good pics:) looking forward to that FR
      Let me know when you're in town again
    • Comment 307368 by
      adrianfong AUTHOR 26 Comments
      Thanks for the comments about my spotting pics Kevin! Makes my session at -5 degrees worthwhile

      I think CX saw increasing demands from outside the London are and wanted to start the route ASAP... It's code sharing with Flybe from MAN so should be able to funnel a bit more pax down. The 77W is the only a/c currently in the fleet that would make economical sense, further down the road they should be replacing it with a A359

      Will you be visiting HK any time soon?
    • Comment 307412 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
      Yes actually, I'll be in Hong Kong January 17-19 :-)
      Recently booked a last minute mileage run as I work on AA Executive Platinum status
    • Comment 307416 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
      Feel free to send me a message if you are around that weekend and maybe we can meet up. Happy Holidays!

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