Cathay Pacific's 77W from SFO-SIN and "The Wing" First Class Lounge in HKG

[yflyer]

With the launch of the new SQ 77W (i.e. 777-300ER) cabins, there are probably many on this forum who are interested in how this new hard product stacks up against other carriers' 77W’s.

We have seen StarG’s wonderful pictures of the new SQ 77WN cabin.

I also recently posted a TR which describes BA’s new 77W cabin which is available between Singapore and London and Sydney.

This TR covers CX new J and new Y on their 77W, which I believe was launched around 2011/2012.

Earlier this month, I flew CX from SFO to SIN via HKG. My SFO to HKG sector was in new Y. My HKG-SIN sector was in new J. While in transit in Hong Kong, I checked out the newly renovated F section in the CX Lounge, The Wing, at Chek Lap Kong Airport.

This TR starts in San Francisco on a 1am departure from SFO to HKG.



This was on one of CX’s 77W’s with their “new” cabin product. I put "new" in inverted commas because these cabin products were launched 1-2 years ago, and the cabin did show some signs of wear and tear. So a new product rather than a new aircraft.

[yflyer]

Boarding was announced, and I made my way to my economy seat in the rear of the aircraft. When travelling inbound home to Singapore, I prefer to sit in the rear of the plane. No rush to get anywhere on my return leg to Singapore.



First impressions – no different from other Y cabins, and aesthetically speaking, not as elegant as SQ’s current 77W Y cabin, let alone the new one.



New Y on CX has seats with conventional recline (i.e. not the fixed shell Y seats that were not well received by customers). The IFE was a sleek new touchscreen, with extremely compact IFE boxes which were practically invisible under the seats.



Flight time today would be short today, about 12+ hours.

This aircraft has CX’s newest IFE, named StudioCX. This has a very wide selection of movies, television and music. Although the widescreen is slightly smaller than SQ’s in Y, the video quality/contrast is excellent, and so is the audio quality. In fact both picture and audio were of a quality higher than I have experienced anywhere else. A top notch system.

[yflyer]

It includes an external camera view, mounted under the aircraft.



This camera is on even while the aircraft is on the ground. And after the flight lands, pax who are still viewing this channel get to see the ground crew put wheel chocks onto the 777 nose gear as well…

Another interesting element of the Y seat was the fact that there were no buttons anywhere on the seat. Everything was on the touchscreen, including the reading light, call button, volume etc.



Apart from headphones already on the seat, no amenity kit was offered.

[yflyer]

Immediately after take-off, supper was served.

We had a selection of 3 mains for our supper.







I chose the Portugese Chicken Curry, which was very good. The curry was mildly spicy and flavourful, the rice moist and perfectly cooked. The carrots and broccoli had a freshness, texture and sweetness rare in Y meals. My only minor quibble was that the curry should have had more chicken and less potato.






Very generous sized shrimp in the appetizer.



Dessert was vanilla Haagen-Dazs



Light were soon dimmed so passengers could rest for the night.

I tried my best to sleep in my Y seat, and did manage to fall asleep intermittently, with the help of a gin and tonic.

I awoke many hours later feeling peckish, and requested coffee and cup noodles.

[yflyer]

A TR without a packet of peanuts feels incomplete...

[yflyer]

CX serves coffee with half-and-half, which I thought was a nice touch.



CX has their own brand of cup noodles.



Breakfast was served an hour later.



I had the seafood congee, which came with generous chunks of fish, scallop and shrimp.

[yflyer]

We landed in Hong Kong a full hour early, at 5.15am. Great! I would have more time to enjoy my favourite lounge in Hong Kong, CX’s Wing.

I took a picture of Premium Y as we left the aircraft.

[yflyer]

I made my way to The Wing, close to gate 2. By coincidence, my connecting flight from HKG to SIN would also be departing from gate 2. Perfect!



I previously posted a TR of my visit to the Business Class section of The Wing (Available here). At that time, the First section was still under renovation. The First Class section was open now, and I was keen to pay a visit.



First impressions were good. A very elegant setting.

My first stop was the champagne bar, with three different bottles to choose from.



I poured myself a glass of The Peninsula house champagne from Deutz.

[yflyer]

Beyond this section of the F Lounge, there was also a separate, larger seating area, overlooking the apron.





A wide selection of beverages and cocktails were on offer – a far wider selection than available in the Business Class section of the Lounge.

[yflyer]

I made my way to the dedicated dining area for breakfast.





The table settings were beautiful…



This was a buffet spread, with a selection of both Western and Asian dishes. These were catered by the Peninsula group, and would not have been out of place in a five star hotel buffet.

[yflyer]

The selection of dim sum was particularly impressive. The congee (rice porridge) came wide a wide selection of condiments.





I sat down for breakfast. Earlier I had also gone to the Shower/Cabana section to request a cabana. The cabanas were available on a first come first served basis. They were full, so the staff gave me a paging device (the black disc on the table) that would buzz and flash once a cabana became available.



Not long after, the pager began to flash, and I made my way to the private cabanas, which were a series of private rooms along a long corridor close to the showers.

[yflyer]

I was led to a large, private room, with sink, shower, tub, daybed and toilet facilities. What an oasis of calm and relaxation! I could use this as long as I wanted. This was perfect for a long transit stop in Hong Kong. This was one of those times where I almost hoped that my flight would be delayed, so that I could spend more time here.

[yflyer]

Eventually, reluctantly, I left the cabana and headed back out to the lounge.

In the main lounge area, there was also a smallish, but very well appointed work area, with just 2 desks.



By then, my flight was almost ready to board at Gate 2.



I had already received my onward boarding pass for HKG-SIN in SFO. I was seated in the rear of the plane in Y.

This flight appeared to be full in the economy cabin.

At the gate, as my boarding pass was scanned, the machine emitted two low pitched beeps…Yes! The gate agent tapped at his keyboard, then took my boarding pass and, with his pen, scratched out the old seat number and wrote a new one. “Sir, you have a different seat today…”

[yflyer]

My new seat was in the J cabin.

This was a very welcome development, since I had just endured 13 hours in Y, and still had a sore neck from sleeping upright at an awkward angle for much of the night.

This was CX's new J, in a herringbone 1-2-1 layout.



This is an example of a window seat.



Here is an aisle seat.

[yflyer]

Adjustable reading light, seat controls, IFE controls, USB and A/C power were laid out on a vertical panel.



Headphones were of the noise cancelling variety, which were stored in a small fabric lined cabinet, which could also be used to store other small items.



The seat was comfortable, and reclined into a fully flat position. (Almost fully flat -- from knees onwards, the footrest did droop a little.)