Avis du vol entre Hong Kong et Chengdu en classe Economique avec Cathay Dragon

This is the second leg of this round trip to Chengdu from Taipei, back in 2011:
TPE – HKG : CX405 (A330-300, Business)
HKG – CTU : KA824 (A320 – Economy) you are here
CTU – HKG : KA821 (A320 – Economy)
HKG – TPE : CX464 (B777-300, Business)
This report begins after deplaning from the previous flight: I passed by the waiting line at Hong-Kong’s immigration. In my experience, the waiting time was typically an hour at that time; only a small part of the line appears here:

The security check for connecting flights was in front. HKG may look like a maze…

… but the signage was excellent and I had no difficult to find the boarding gate and then, with the help of an airport staff, the access to the lounge where I had access due to my previous flight in J. This was The Cabin, a somewhat strange name IMO.

This lounge used a long space separated in several rooms with different settings and design, providing a decent view on the tarmac and offering an exceptional catering. The result was stunning, even though the layout of the raw space was not favorable.

A China Airlines aircraft in front of Cathay Pacific birds

Time passed quickly here, all the more that I came across a friend by pure chance, and it was soon time to board again. What followed is in the next report!

The plane was not at the gate, so we boarded of one these buses displaying the flight number above the windshield.

Boarding the A320

I did not like much the color matching of the antimacassar with the red and blue of the seats, but that is a matter of personal taste.

On the other hand, my seat was slightly too high and it was uncomfortable for my short legs. Both other two seats were empty and set at a normal height, so I changed which did not matter much for me in flight since it was night. Note that Seat 24A was actually in the first rows of Economy (because my previous flight had been in J, I guess), because the numbering of the Economy seats started at 21, just before the two row of business class. This numbering gap is quite common in Chinese airlines.

It doesn't show much in my pictures, but the air in Hong Kong so hot and saturated with humidity that cold air pouring from the ventilation vents generated a significant condensation. This was not the first time I was seeing this phenomenon.

No IFE screen, neither individual nor collective, so the safety demonstrations were done the old way, with a FA showing here the fine art of using an oxygen mask.

There was a beautiful view of HKG at take off, but my camera was not sensitive enough to capture it right.

Trivia quiz : how many grams of butter did a passenger receive during a short haul flight in Economy on CA, KA and CZ, respectively, ca 2011?

Answer : 5g, 8g, and 10g !
Dragonair procures its butter from Denmark, where that of CA and CZ comes from New Zealand.
The meal won’t surprise the frequent Chinese domestic lines flyers, then and now, or of readers of their reports : it was as usual, and very decent for a 2h30’ flight in Economy.

One bonus point for the coffee which was black and good, contrary to the low quality milk coffee served on Chinese airlines (and worse, the awful coffee served on Taiwanese domestic flights).

I seldom have a chance to take pictures of wine bottles because I never drink any, but this time, I was gazing at the trolley so much in search of anything worth mentioning that it puzzled the FA who asked me if I had second thoughts and wanted wine after all. I explained my purpose and she spontaneously showed me the two bottles of wine: a Chilean red wine and a French white wine. A bonus point for her friendly cooperation.

This picture of Chengdu by night is not very good, but it is typical of all major Chinese cities : there is public lighting in the major avenues only, not in the lesser streets, even in the most affluent neighborhoods.

Touchdown 6 minutes late, end of thrust inverters deployment and short taxi to the terminal.

A quick look at the business class when deplaning : two rows in 2+2 seating, like on most Chinese domestic flights.

This was the corridor for international arrivals, but in Mainland China, you cannot write that Taiwan is a foreign country, nor Hong-Kong and Macao which have a very special status in China. Hence this indication which is the same in all airports in Mainland China.

This counter was for the special paperwork for the Taiwanese : Mainland China does not recognize their passports and cannot issue them visas, since the China sovereignty on Taiwan, so the Taiwanese have special travel documents valid for China only for saving face (and the reverse in true for the Chinese going to Taiwan).

Coincidentally, the luggage checked on my flight (sharecoded with Cathay Pacific and Air China) and on Sichuan Airlines 8978 were delivered on the same carousel. I had wanted to take that flight, but this trip had been decided with three days advance notice and I could not expect to get a seat on one of the few direct flights between Taipei and a city on the Mainland.

I only had a hand luggage, so I could not know if the checked luggage delivery was as fast as usual in China.

Thanks for reading me !