My flight was departing from Hong Kong at 4:05PM, so I got to the airport at 2:45PM. I was already issued my boarding pass in Chicago a couple of days prior, so proceeded directly to immigration and security, which took about 15 minutes.
I briefly stopped by Cathay Pacific’s First Class “The Wing” Lounge, which I had access to thanks to my oneworld Emerald status. I had a couple of glasses of champagne, and then at around 3:30PM headed to my departure gate.
Cathay Pacific’s “The Wing” champagne bar
My flight was departing from the far end of the concourse, so by the time I got to the gate at around 3:45PM they were on final boarding call, and I was among the last people aboard.
Cathay Pacific A330 Hong Kong Airport
Cathay Pacific 719
Hong Kong (HKG) – Jakarta (CGK)
Sunday, February 15
Depart: 4:05PM
Arrive: 8:00PM
Duration: 4hr55min
Aircraft: Airbus A330
Seat: 16K (Business Class)
I was curious to try Cathay Pacific’s new regional business class. I’ve flown their old regional business class many times, which basically consists of rather tired but comfortable recliner seats, which are marginally more comfortable than domestic first class within the US.
Cathay Pacific’s regional A330s consist of a total of 42 business class seats, spread across seven rows in a 2-2-2 configuration. I assigned myself seat 16K, which was a window seat in the third to last row of the cabin.
Cathay Pacific regional business class A330
The seats are quite interesting given that they’re actually “shell” seats. When you recline your seat you’re reclining forward in your “space,” rather than “into” the space of the person behind you. While I like shell seats for longhaul seats where there’s plenty of legroom, the concept is a bit perplexing for regional seats.
The legroom is marginally better than domestic first class within the US, though I find the whole shell “casing” to be a bit restrictive, personally.
Cathay Pacific regional business class A330
Each seat had a personal television, and then the tray table folded out from the seat in front, which sort of reminded me of what you’d get in economy.
Cathay Pacific regional business class legroom A330
The area for your feet was quite small, especially when the legrest was placed up.
Cathay Pacific regional business class legroom A330
The seat controls were located on the center armrest, right above headphone jack.
Cathay Pacific regional business class seat controls A330
Then between seats were small storage pockets, where you could place glasses, phones, etc.
Cathay Pacific regional business class storage A330
As I settled in I was offered a pre-departure beverage, though I passed, since I stayed well hydrated during my short visit to The Wing. 😉 Shortly thereafter I was offered the menu and wine list for the flight.
Cathay Pacific business class menu
As the departure time rolled around the captain (I believe he was British) came on the PA to welcome us aboard and inform us of our flight time of 4hr25min. JJ, the senior purser, also introduced herself over the PA and started playing the safety video. The cabin was quite full, aside from a couple of seats not being occupied.
Cathay Pacific business class cabin A330
We pushed back at 4:15PM, and taxied out to runway 7R. It was an overcast day, so the views weren’t all that great.
View on taxi at Hong Kong Airport
We made it to runway 7R at around 4:35PM, at which point we were immediately cleared for takeoff.
View on taxi at Hong Kong Airport
View on taxi at Hong Kong Airport
Our climb out was smooth, and the views of the terminal were nice on departure — that’s the one benefit of taking off from the far end of the airport.
View after takeoff from Hong Kong
View after takeoff from Hong Kong
About 15 minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off, at which point the crew sprung into action and began with the meal service. On this flight orders weren’t taken in advance, but rather the cart was rolled through the aisle course-by-course.
The dinner menu read as follows:
And the wine/beverage list read as follows:
To start I ordered a Diet Coke, which was served with some nuts.
Cathay Pacific business class Diet Coke and nuts
About 20 minutes later the cart was rolled around with the appetizer and salad.
Cathay Pacific business class dinner starter
The appetizer consisted of smoked salmon and was delicious. It reminded me of the days where Cathay Pacific served salmon in first class (though their new caviar presentation doesn’t suck either!).
Cathay Pacific business class dinner starter — smoked salmon
The salad, while small, was tasty. I especially liked the citrus vinaigrette.
Cathay Pacific business class dinner salad — mixed seasonal greens with citrus vinaigrette
A selection from the bread basket was also offered. I selected some garlic bread.
Cathay Pacific business class garlic bread with dinner
For the main course I ordered the Thai red curry, which was more or less inedible. I know I’m on the picky side when it comes to meat, but it was dark meat and quite chewy.
Cathay Pacific business class dinner main course — Thai red curry chicken
On the plus side, I had no complaints about the Haagen-Dazs cookies & cream ice cream, which was served for dessert. 😉
Cathay Pacific business class dinner dessert — Haagen Dazs ice cream
The meal service took about 90 minutes, and was decent enough. The crew was friendly, attentive, and genuine, though with a 42 seat business class cabin you can’t help but feel like you’re just part of an assembly line.
I briefly browsed the entertainment selection, though nothing especially interested me, so I instead got some work done on my laptop.
The views were gorgeous as the sun began to set, so my eyes were glued outside the window for a while.
Beautiful sunset view enroute to Jakarta
Beautiful sunset view enroute to Jakarta
Cathay Pacific airshow enroute to Jakarta
Cathay Pacific airshow enroute to Jakarta
Eventually we were starting our approach into Jakarta, and about 30 minutes out the captain came on the PA again to inform us that we’d be landing at 8PM.
We had a smooth touchdown at 8PM sharp, and at 8:05PM made it to our arrival gate.
Little did I know what an exciting transit I’d have ahead of me…
Cathay Pacific regional business class bottom line
I think Cathay Pacific’s regional business class can best be described as comfortable but unmemorable. The crew was friendly and food (mostly) edible, though it’s not the most personalized experience with 42 seats.
And while I appreciate that the new regional business class seats look fresher, they’re not really more comfortable than the old product, in my opinion.
But then again, for a four hour daytime flight, what more could you really want?
I do think it’s worth pointing out that Cathay Pacific flies a lot of longhaul aircraft within Asia, so if you can snag one of those I’d highly recommend it. The way to tell whether it’s a longhaul aircraft is if business class is in a 1-2-1 configuration, which would mean you’re flying their product with reverse herringbone seats and direct aisle access at every seat.
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