Hong Kong Airlines just recently took delivery of their first A350, which should allow them to expand significantly. This December Hong Kong Airlines will begin A350 flights between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, and in 2018 they plan on adding flights to London, New York, and San Francisco.
It’s nice to see some more longhaul competition out of Hong Kong, given that it’s a market that Cathay Pacific dominates. Up until now we’ve known that Hong Kong Airlines plans to offer B/E Aerospace reverse herringbone seats in business class on their A350s, which is among the best business class hard products out there.
Qatar’s A350 B/E Aerospace reverse herringbone seats
Well, Hong Kong Airlines recently took delivery of their first A350, which they’ll soon begin flying on flights within Asia, in order to familiarize their crews with the plane, before flying it to Los Angeles.
However, there’s one small catch. Hong Kong Airlines’ first two A350s won’t feature reverse herringbone seats in business class. Instead they’ll feature a staggered configuration, which isn’t nearly as spacious or private.
The first two A350s being delivered to Hong Kong Airlines are ones that were initially going to be delivered to Brazil-based airline Azul, and Hong Kong Airlines decided to keep the seats that they had ordered on the plane.
It’s my understanding that starting with the third A350 they’ll have a new business class product, but that won’t be the case for the first two.
So if you’re planning to fly Hong Kong Airlines to Los Angeles in the first couple of months the route is offered, you can bet that this will be the seat you’ll get in business class.
It’s a bit unfortunate that the airline is taking delivery of a new type of plane and won’t even offer a consistent product on it.
(Tip of the hat to Carfield)
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