Flight Number KA 810
Departure from Hong Kong at 10:25 AM
Seat 16K
Although I fell asleep before takeoff and only woke up as we were landing, I thought I’d share my experience on this product you’ll find on many Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights within Asia.
Boarding
After a long walk to one of the furthest possible gates in the main concourse of HKG terminal 1, I was happy to walk right onto the plane, skipping the long line of economy class passengers waiting to board.
Boarding was quick and I made it to my seat in a matter of seconds.
Cabin and Seat
Cathay Dragon has a few different cabin layouts for the A330 business class. This plane had 7 rows of business class seats in a 2 – 2 – 2 layout, for a total of 42 business class seats.
The cabin is a bit boring looking with green seats and an all white cabin other than the signature art piece installed at the back of the cabin which all Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon planes have.
The seats were fine for a 2 hour flight, though I would of course prefer Cathay Pacific’s lie flat seats they use on many short flights within Asia to these recliner seats used on all Cathay Dragon flights in business class. Each pair of seats are identical forward facing seats, designed similarly to premium economy seats on long haul flights, though a bit more spacious.
The seats also featured a small table for drinks in between them, IFE screen, and a space under the seat in front of you to store your shoes.
Overall I was fine with the seats on this short flight that I slept nearly 100% of. While these are significantly better than intra-European business class seats, of course they are a step down from getting a lie flat seat that is not uncommon to find on flights within Asia.
Food
While I didn’t eat on this flight, I did begin the flight with a glass of champagne and water.
Menus were distributed and read as follows:
The options looked pretty good for a late morning short haul flight.
Amenities
As I arrived to my seat, waiting for me were a pillow and blanket, both fairly good quality for a short flight. Hot towels were also given out before taxi as expected in business class.
No amenity kits were given out on this short flight.
Bottom Line
While not the latest and greatest business class, Cathay Dragon’s A330 business class is a comfortable way to fly short haul, and significantly better than short haul business class in Europe and North America. I wouldn’t mind flying this plane again, though I would of course prefer to get a long haul business class seat on these shorter flights as offered by many airlines in Asia.