Growing Old in Style - (Business Class) CX253 Hong Kong International Airport to London Heathrow

Growing old in Style – CX253 Hong Kong International Airport to London Heathrow
(in Business Class)

AUTHORS NOTE: PICTURE HEAVY.

Index:

CX253 Hong Kong International Airport to London Heathrow Terminal 3
Cathay Pacific, Seat 22A, Boeing 777-300ER
5,994Miles flown, 0 Avios earned, 0 Tier Points Earned

With a slight disappointment in my head I was leaving Hong Kong, I headed down the jetbridge and aboard the waiting Boeing 777-300ER.

I was welcomed aboard, and headed down the cabin to the second business class cabin to my home in 22A.

The seat

The seat in the wider cabin.

Unlike the outbound flight, I would be seated in the main business class cabin – so this was a lot less intimate than the other flight.

Still, the seat is a good seat – one that I could sleep in. This would be important.

IFE Screen.

IFE controls, Light Seat Controls, Power and AV inputs.

There’s a long way to go on this flight…

I was welcomed aboard and an offering was made of a welcome drink. And since I started with Champagne, I continued.

Well – it would had been rude otherwise.

Well, it’s only a tiny glass.

With the loading complete, and the cabin prepared for departure, our plane pushed back on time for the long trip to London.

And of course, the safety video played.

Thai Airways Airbus A330

A rare breed for Cathay Pacific – A Boeing 747-400.

Whilst the taxi was relatively short wander to the runway, Hong Kong International was busy, with ATC filtering aircraft one by one out of Hong Kong.

Eventually, it was our turn for our engines to spin up and leave the Fragrant Harbour behind.

With a gentle climb into the air, the Boeing 777-300ER made its accent into the sky.

With the plane heading to in cruise, I laid back and hit the IFE system – and ran into some small yellow friends.

BANANA!

A note about the IFE system – as I noted on the way out, it’s wonderfully sized, responsive and easy to control. However, it does have limitations in the content it has which whilst reasonable – could have been expanded further.

And this is the crux of any in-flight entertainment system – it can have the shiniest hardware in the world, but if doesn’t have the content to back the shiny hardware up – it’s not worth the system that is installed.

Drinks, menus and amenity kits were also handed out t00:

Bubbles and Amenity kit

Menu and Beverages.

Menu

Cabin during cruise

Very bubbly clouds below

More drinks were handed out with nuts.

I’m a sucker for Cathays Pacific Sunrise. I’ll freely admit that.

So the first course followed in reasonable time,

The tray – containing salad (with radishes), Garlic Bread, and Salmon Tartar (with more radishes)…

Salmon Tartar – very fresh and not fishy smelling.

Garlic Bread… because why not at 35,000ft?

Salad. With Radishes. What has Cathay Pacific got with Radishes? Bulk discount offer that day?

As I dined, the sun began to set, bringing out some wonderful colours in the sky.

For the main, I chose the Chicken in Black Bean sauce with noodles.

The noodles sadly were a little hard (then again – finding noodles that aren’t rock hard in the air is a miracle in itself), but still edible. The chicken was nicely cooked and tasty in the black bean sauce.

Remember I said the sun was setting? And thus the fire of the sun let out an almighty roar…

Again, I skipped the cheese plate – and headed for the double chocolate tart.

And yes – it was very chocolatey. My sort of tart.

With the tray cleared, I put the seat in a flattish position, and slept off two good meals. And I must had done a good amount of sleeping because I woke up a few hours from London… and in time for more food.

My timing skills are excellent like that it seems.

Hot Towel Sir? Why not!

Cola with Vodka. It’s a bit different from having bubbles.

A new tray was delivered – starting of with fresh fruits. It’s nice to see as it clears the palette before getting down to the heavier stuff. The fact I added Garlic Bread is of course – besides the point.

This was followed with Spare Ribs, Choy Sum and rice. Now, there is one thing that Cathy Pacific can do on a plane – it’s cook good quality rice… even in Business Class (I haven’t tried out the economy option yet).

And to finish, an Apricot Cake slice

With the trays cleared away, I relaxed and started to get things ready for arrival – as when the plane hit the ground, I wanted to make a quick and clean get-away to meet a Heathrow Express for the train home.

Lying back after dinner.

The cabin crew themselves were preparing the cabin for arrival, and soon the plane was buttoned up for arrival as the plane closed in on London.

Soon the plane begun its decent over London – which was lit up at night, and covered by cloud.

The cabin itself was in darkness as the plane was ready for landing.

Soon, the plane lined up for its arrival at Heathrow, completing the long trip from Hong Kong.

The plane begun its taxi over to Terminal 3.

Off the active and onto the taxiway.

Passing the demolition zone that is the old Heathrow Terminal 1 (Most of you will recognise it as the old Green mile).

Srilankan airlines Airbus A330

Approaching the gate – another Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER lit up and readying for departure to Hong Kong.

As we were coming onto the gate, there was a distinct lack of ground activity around. And as the pilot announced – no jetbridge driver.

And bang goes my plan of rushing off the plane straight away.

Fellow Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER

And… stop!

Sadly, Heathrow Airport was doing its best to get a jet-bridge driver – and around 10 minutes after coming to the gate, one was found to connect the plane to the terminal.

All too soon, it was time to depart the aircraft.

And thank you Cathay Pacific.

Crew making sure economy class doesn’t invade the cabin before business class gets moving…

And finally, off the plane. Thanks CX253!

Overall: Two flights on Cathay Pacific and two constantly well delivered services. The attention to detail and welcomes were appreciated, and the food was excellent. Combined with the hard product of reverse herringbone seat – it’s a darn good product for long haul flights. Again, the IFE system as noted on the way out is good, but not hot on content.

But as a way of crossing multiple time zones in comfort – I can put a big tick in “Would like to travel again” in Cathay Pacific’s Business Class product.

Next: The Great Rush Home

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Growing Old in Style – (Business Class) CX253 Hong Kong International Airport to London Heathrow

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