To Taipei on Cathay/Dragonair

[lingua101]

The business class seats look very similar to the Y seats.
If you hadn't told me, I might have missed it !

and the worst part, the IFE is still non-AVOD with like 5" screen (??) and the "remote" is on the arm rest.

I have mentioned in other forum that the old CX C seat is not better than SQ Y seat in A330/A380 with the exception it is bigger. Some one disgaree badly and said I am insane!!!

[lingua101]

Our reasonably comfortable and well-padded seats for the flight.

Personally I found the Y seat in B772 and B773 are the most comfortable as they are "thick" and look very comfortable. I do not like their shell seats

[Kyo]

I have mentioned in other forum that the old CX C seat is not better than SQ Y seat in A330/A380 with the exception it is bigger. Some one disgaree badly and said I am insane!!!

I cannot understand why CX has no footrest in their new regional J.

I got op-upped twice (discount Y even) on SIN-HKG, and not having even a flip-out footrest is beyond, beyond, beyond annoying. Apart from that I agree with the 'someone' that CX C is still better than SQ Y on SQ 333/388 Y.

[ycp81]

Going through transfer security near Gate 44.




With more than an hour till the next flight, we visited the brand new Plaza Premium Lounge West Hall, courtesy of our Priority Passes, for some light bites. This lounge is supposed to be Plaza Premium's new flagship lounge. As we intended just to get some bites, I had taken only photos of the dining area, which is of a new concept. Other than the dining area, there are also other sectioned areas for lounging and work, as well as shower facilities and a bar area.

Dining area




Various "stalls".




More buffet spread.




Salad and soup bar.




Some nachos, mixed nuts and juice.




Samosas and HK egg tarts




Tomato soup, a chicken dish and "cheong fun"




Fish ball noodles




While having our meal, the gate for our flight was finally assigned at Gate 41, which was just below the lounge. However, the plane only arrived at the gate slightly more than 30min before the STD. As expected, our flight was retimed by 20min to 1850hrs due to the late arrival of the aircraft.



14 November 2013
Dragonair
KA 482
Hong Kong (HKG) - Taipei Taoyuan (TPE)
A330-300
B-HLE
Economy Class

This would be my first time flying on Dragonair, which is now a fully-owned subsidiary of CX, similar to Silkair being a part of SQ. Proceeded to the departure gate for the flight. The flight was code-shared with CX, which is similar to all CX flights bound for TPE where KA would code-share on them as well.




Operating this short flight this evening was B-HLE, which was originally delivered to CX in 1995 (even older than the B772 I flew on the previous flight), and transferred to KA in 2010. The aircraft looked brand new as it was recently retrofitted with the newest KA seats and IFE, which are exactly similar to CX's newest generation of economy and regional Business seats!




Boarding had just started as we reached the gate and an orderly queue was formed for boarding. However, KA ground staff actively guided families with young children in the queue and at the gate area to the front for priority boarding. Never have I seen this being done before for other airlines! Great ground service by KA here!

[ycp81]

Welcomed by the KA crew and proceeded to the aft section of the plane where our seas would be the 2-seaters by the window. The plane filled up and it seemed to be a rather full flight. Cabin interior on this retrofitted plane was immaculate and new.




Legroom was good even though the seat pitch was only 32". This was probably due to the new slimline seatbacks. However, seat base was of a rather thick cushioning, making the seat very much comfortable for the user. In fact, I would rate this new generation of CX/KA seats to be superior in comfort to the current SQ economy seats on the A330/A380/B77W. IFE was touch-screen with a USB port, and there was also a compartment just below the screen for small objects. Great for placing my handphone while charging! Even though the CX/KA seat may have less of the blings found on SQ, I feel that the seat design is very well thought out, having the necessities while not compromising on comfort.




At the gate while awaiting pushback.




Stuff in seat pocket.






Headphones were available on this short flight and were pre-set in the seat pockets.




Boarding completed and aircraft doors were closed. Flight time was announced to be a short 1h15m. Safety video, which was again in animation format, was played.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jEEa6vIXXI


While fiddling around the seat, I realised that there were no IFE handset nor any call-buttons or readings light switches. It was only after more meddling and touching the blue button below the IFE screen when this menu showed up on screen. Clever, isn't it?




Flight map.




In order to make up for the delay, the pilot taxied swiftly to the runway and we departed Rwy05R into the night skies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VEA5jfLhfI


Shortly after takeoff, the IFE system, Studio KA (which uses the exact same IFE platform as CX), was switched on. All entertainment selections, with the exception of movies, are available on this hour long hop. As mentioned earlier, all selections were performed via touchscreen monitor, which, fortunately, was very responsive and of high resolution.

[ycp81]

To whet my appetite for the upcoming Taiwanese food upon arrival, I tuned in to a Taiwanese variety show featuring tasty street food in Taipei!




Coincidentally, the KA crew also passed us a comment form to fill up, which was very similar to CX's version. Again we requested for playing cards, which was promptly delivered.




Cabin then came down the aisle from the rear, serving us a meal. Initially, I had though that both CX and KA had downgraded their meal service on HKG-TPE sector to just mere warm sandwiches, but surprisingly the KA crew presented to us a beautiful hot meal box, a cup of water and a cutlery pack. No choices offered though and then crew just mentioned that it was "chow fun" ie. fried rice in Cantonese. Guess the meal concept on this short flight has been changed again recently.




Unfortunately, the fried rice was just bordering on tasteless even though it was piping hot! We just had a couple of mouthfuls and left the rest. We would have better upon arrival in Taipei.




Just shortly after delivery of meals in a very efficient manner, crew came down again to collect the trash as well as offering Chinese tea. Other beverages are available upon request only as the crew did not set up any other beverages on the cart up. However I did notice other passengers request for soft drinks and beers, and were offered the entire cans by the crew. For us, we just had Chinese tea, which were served in a plastic cup. Service by the KA crew was just alright. Efficient but not as warm as the CX crew and English language skills were apparently not as proficient as well. However, they still get the job done and did respond to requests. Also can't fault them as it was only a short and full flight.




View of the mid economy cabin after meal service, with the lights dimmed.




Visit to lavatory. Amenities were exactly similar to CX.




Very soon, we were descending into TPE, flying along the coast.






Studio KA was switched off just moments before landing and we had the flight map view instead. Landing preparations notice was also flashed on the screens.




No holds and it was a direct approach to TPE Rwy 05L.




Landing in Taipei Taoyuan, slightly behind schedule. We managed to make up some of the lost time enroute. Throughout the flight, recorded announcements were made in 4 languages, English, Mandarin and 2 Taiwanese dialects, which got kind of "irritating" after a while due to the endless broadcasts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZQMAO0dUA


Thank you for flying Dragonair!

[ycp81]

Taxied to Terminal One, with a sister CX pushing back.




Parked




Waiting to disembark.




Comfortable seat for the short flight.




View of cabin during disembarkation.




Blurred photo of the new CX/KA Regional Business Class seats fitted on this KA plane. I still wondered why KA don't at least change the covers of the seats to another colour more reflective of their corporate identity instead of the green/blue colours used by CX.




Immigration was rather fast and we were soon picking up our bags without much of a wait.






Dragonair has certainly upped its game in as the leading Regional Airline through the introduction of new seats on its planes, thanks to its parent CX. Service was efficient and acceptable on this short flight and most of the frills are still provided for. In fact, KA could be just CX in another livery and crew uniform!


It was straight to the hotel at Taipei Main Station by the airport bus, check-in and out to the night markets for supper! The first night market visited on our first day was Ning Xia night market, which was not too far from the hotel. Yummy street food!




Visited Yehliu Geopark on the second day.




More of the food we had on the second day.




Visit to Gongguan area, beside the New Taiwan University, where there are lots of affordable shopping and eateries!

[ycp81]

Visited Jianguo Weekend Flower market.




Chanced upon a protest assembly. Seemed more like a family day with kids and grandmas involved in it again!




Buffet lunch at a restaurant offering Taiwanese delicacies at a rather new cafes/art gallery/restaurants hangout place, Huashan Park.




More Taiwanese food!




More night markets. I will really miss them...






On the day of departure, I received an email from CX that my original TPE-HKG sector on CX421 had been delayed for 2hrs. CX would rebook me on either the earlier CX475, departing 45min before, or a later flight at 1pm. However, as I only checked my email quite late, we still proceeded to the airport as our scheduled timing and see what the CX agents could do.

Reaching Taoyuan Terminal One, CX check-in desks were seeing a long queue. We proceeded to the bag-drop queue having done online check-in earlier. While queuing, a CX ground supervisor was asking around if anyone was booked on CX421. We immediately signalled that we were flying on the flight and was connecting to SIN. The supervisor immediately pulled us and one other passenger aside to an available counter and told the check-in agent to process us for the earlier CX475. Apparently they were trying as far as possible to shift passengers with connections to the earlier flight. At this time, it was only less than 40min before the departure of CX475, but the agents still managed to put us on the flight, even though we had to be separated. Well, better than waiting for the later flight and missing our connection in HKG. Also, I would have no idea what plane was operating the flight.

CX Desks




Terminal One was renovated, and it actually looked quite nice!




Boarding passes for both sectors.




Cleared immigration and security with no hassles and proceeded to the gate B6, which was the first gate just after passing through the duty free shops. Boarding was already in progress.



18 November 2013
Cathay Pacific
CX 475
Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) - Hong Kong (HKG)
B777-300ER
B-KPT
Economy Class


Boarding in progress when we reached the gate.




Curious as to what plane would be operating this flight. Turned out to be an almost brand new B773ER! I would have thought that CX would probably send a higher capacity 744 or 773 instead.




Straight down the aerobridge, with newspapers available at the door, Don't remembering them available at SIN, nor at HKG.

[ycp81]

This plane would be a 4-class fitted B77W. Upon entering the plane, we first passed through Business class, which occupied the entire cabin between Doors 2 and 3.




How I wished I was seated in one of these seats, which are one of the nest Business Class seats out there.




Passing through the mini Premium Economy, which did not seemed too spectacular other than wider seat pitch.




Reached by seat, 64A, at the mid section of the rear economy cabin. CX only has slightly more than 180 Y seats on this premium-configured aircraft, and it appeared that it was totally full in Premium Economy and Economy. Apparently quite a number of frequent flyers were upgraded to Premium Economy. Never mind, I am perfectly comfortable in the new Economy seat.




CX 773 beside, preparing for a flight to KIX. CX has a huge operation out of TPE, with 5th freedom flights from TPE to various cities in Japan, as well as Seoul.




Flight map.




Fiddling with th IFE again, I discovered that this plane was fitted with underbelly camera! Here, it was showing the pushback tug at the nose gear!




Last stages of boarding in progress. The crew were also handing out blankets to passengers who needed them.




And another CX plane arrived.




Pushback was delayed as we were still waiting for a few missing/late passengers, probably the ones who were transferred from the later delayed flight. In the end, we only started our pushback almost 30min after STD.

Safety video shown during pushback. Apart from the introduction, it was exactly the same animation as the one shown on KA.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8LlQWiwW_I


TransAsia A320 parked at the remote stands.




Another CX plane, a B744, parked at the remote stands too. Wondering what is it doing there with its flaps fully extended.

[ycp81]

Taxi to Rwy 05L for departure.






Finally took off from TPE, more than 40min behind schedule! Luckily the flight was only a short 1hr20m and CX has padded the flight at 1h55m.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcNyoTzj1zQ


Climbing out of TPE and making a left turn back.




Seat belt signs switched off and a service announcement was made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3iS1o-cizE


Flying along the coast of Taiwan with some nice scenery.








Studio CX was switched on shortly after departure. With headset available in the seat pockets, we were able to enjoy AVOD IFE even on this very short flight. Similar to KA, movies were unavailable on this sector.




I chose to watch a Taiwanese music award concert.






Wasting no time, the CX crew sprung into action and started the meal service. My aisle was served by a very friendly and smiley Taiwanese crew who provided exceptional service to passengers.




Apparently, CX has also changed its meal service on the HKG-TPE sector. Gone are the sandwiches and similar to KA, boxed meals are now served. Crew also handed out a pack of oolong tea and a cutlery pack.




Fearing that the piping hot meal box might contain the same fried rice as on KA, I was pleasantly surprised when I lifted the lid to find that it contained a Taiwanese traditional dish of braised minced pork with rice, along with half a hard-boiled egg and some pickles. It was truely delicious!! I don't mind getting a second serving!

[ycp81]

Great meal!




An exemplary moment of the great service on CX, the pax seated beside me had obviously not pre-booked a vegetarian meal. When she asked the crew serving us whether the meal contained meat, which the meal did, she initially refused to have the meal, just requesting for the oolong tea. However, the stewardess then offered to prepare vegetarian cup noodles for her after the distribution of meals and informed the purser about it. After distribution of meals, she came back and ask the pax if she would like fruits or instant noodles as they have both, and miraculously present a fruit platter after the pax preferred to have the fruits. Wonderful service by CX!

Flying across the straits between Taiwan and China.




CX crew in action, serving hot beverages while clearing the meal boxes.




Nice scattered clouds below.




Connecting flight information was shown. My next flight, CX635, would be departing from gate 69. Lots of connecting pax on this flight.




73 miles to go.




Almost there, but we were put in a holding pattern for about 10min due to heavy traffic in HKG. This resulted in a slightly late arrival.




View from underbelly camera while flying circles.




Headphones were collected and IFE was switched to flightmap and camera view mode. Descending past some outlying islands.






Final approach from the west, with some construction (a bridge?) going on in the sea.






And landed on Rwy07L, about 15min late.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClLpKp3BkfQ

[ycp81]

Following the centreline on the belly cam.




JinAir B738 taxi behind us.




Shanghai Airlines and Dragonair.




Parked at Gate 48 beside a B773.






Up comes the catering truck.




Disembarking with crew bading farewell along the aisle.




A shot of the new Economy seats. I would rank it as one of the best and most comfortable Economy class seats currently in the market.




Premium economy




Business Class. Nice for CX to have orchid decorations at the seats!






The neighbouring B773 aircraft. Would be having a 1h40m wait for the connecting flight back to SIN.




Again, even with the heavy load, it was a rather pleasant short flight on CX.

[ycp81]

And on to the final leg of my Taipei trip. Did not visit the lounge this time round, instead just spent the transit time shopping for some HK goodies. Also did some plane spotting.

One of the many CX A333s




SQ A380, which would be following just behind us all the way to SIN.




Countless CXs and a hidden Royal Brunei.




First "live" glimpse of a BA A380! Almost every other A380 operator (BA, SQ, MH, TG, EK, QF, KE, CZ) seemed to be sending their whalejets to HKG!





18 November 2013
Cathay Pacific
CX 635
Hong Kong (HKG) - Singapore (SIN)
B777-300ER
B-KPC
Economy Class


Again, a 4-class configured B773ER with the latest cabin products would be flying us back to SIN. Departure was from gate 69, which was a pretty long trek from the East Hall.




Boarding had already commenced and we boarded immediately. Again passed the lovely Business Class cabin.






Through Premium Economy.




And to my seat at the front Economy cabin. Economy ended up being totally full again! Not sure about the premium cabins though.




At the gate.




2566km to home.




Pushback was slightly delayed due to a group of late passengers.

[ycp81]

Taxi to runway.






Takeoff from Rwy07R for the 3h15m flight to SIN.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX4fOeqI5VY


Nice scenery of Kowloon and Hong Kong Islands during the ascent!
















After the initial nice views during climbout, it was just clouds and sea for almost the rest of the flight.




IFE turned on after departure.




On this flight, peanuts was first distributed by the crew.

[ycp81]

A choice of beverages were also offered from trays. I had a coke with ice.




Started on my entertainment for the flight, the movie "Pacific Rim". CX's new IFE monitors in Economy offered very high resolution and is, till now, the best quality IFE monitor I have encountered so far.




High above the clouds.




Meal was served soon after. No menus offered and choices were asked verbally. We had a choice of Fish with rice or Vegetarian penne pasta. Went for a choice each. I still think that even with no physical menus in economy, CX should at least invest in displaying menus on their IFE system.




Meal tray. Comes with cut fruits, warm bread roll and butter, as well as the signature Haagen Daz ice cream.




Choice of Vegetarian penne pasta. It actually tasted better than it looks.






Fried fish with beancurd skin, vegetables and steamed rice. This tasted ok.






Enjoying vanilla Haagen Daz at 37,000 feet!




And Chinese tea to end the meal.




Along the Vietnam Coast.