Airbus A350-900, the new aircraft of the Cathay Pacific fleet (its first A350-1000 left Toulouse for Hong Kong on June 19)
THE ROAD
Hong Kong In Dublin, inaugural flight, connecting Australia – via Hong Kong – to Ireland (thus avoiding Heathrow or Gatwick). It takes us through Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, Siberia and Lake Baikal (the deepest freshwater lake in the world), the Baltic countries and Ireland, thus avoiding hot spots known
. 28 seats in a configuration of 2-4-2.
Lighting in the premium economy of Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900.
FIDELITY
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FREQUENCY
Four days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday).
30G (center aisle, one row behind business clbad) and the two middle seats in my row of four are unoccupied, so there is plenty of room to spread out. The seat width, 18 inches (47 centimeters), is less than 19.3 inches from the Boeing 777 but the tilt angle, at nine inches (23 centimeters) is greater than its rival.
LUGGAGE
Two pieces of recording, total weight 35 kilograms. A cabin bag, seven kilograms.
CHECK-IN
Painless. Hard to believe The Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok Island is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018. Now the eighth busiest airport in the world, it still seems as spacious and efficient – especially at this time. night time. The flight departs at 1am, so a check-in time of 10pm not only allows for early dinner in the city, but also to free the airport.
COMFORT
As it is the maiden flight to Dublin, the Airbus overflows with Irish expats back home. Two – Moira and Keira – do not know each other before takeoff but are the best friends when we land.
At the end of the flight, both declare themselves completely satisfied with the comfort of the premium economy seats that they've paid – except for one thing: like me, Moira and Keira find the entertainment control panel positioning difficult and hard to reach.
It's a first-world problem (if it's not first clbad), of course. But given the number of searches that improve the seat of your airline compared to its competitors, it really should not happen.
SERVICE
This is one of four CX flights that I take in a week. The other three flights are professional, friendly and efficient: exactly what you expect. On this maiden flight, I am sitting on the other side of the aisle, Moira, of a certain age, with an Irish flag and a kind of aficionado of airlines. Moira has left a dozen commemorative "airgrams" celebrating this maiden flight that will be signed by the entire flight crew so that she can send them to others. flying nerds. Before takeoff, our Australian captain returns to the premium economy to chat with Moira for five minutes and invites us all three to the badpit for a photo when we land in Dublin.
ENTERTAINMENT
I find the entertainment system difficult to navigate with poorly designed control panels. The 12.1-inch screen is quite large and the airline's CX Studio system offers about 40 movies, 60 TV programs, 100 CDs, 20 audio channels, as well as Nintendo games. There are
AC and USB points and a book reading lamp (although I do not find out until the last hour or two of the flight).
FOOD
Appropriately, since we fly to Ireland, there are many potatoes on the menu. Potato salad with chives and breaded bacon is one of the starters for dinner, while beef stew with beer (one of three choices for the main) with green beans and potatoes at the colcan. Breakfast is an Irish choice – parsley omelette, Dingley Dell pork sausage, bacon and artichoke gratin – or a dim sum selection. Strangely, there is no vegetarian option.
ANOTHER THING
As it is an inaugural flight (and of a substantial blow to the Irish economy), the Dublin media are waiting for the first flight CX301 . What happens next, is what Moira and Keira describe as "a true Irish welcome".
Despite our arrival 30 minutes earlier, we stay on board for another hour. Our arrival has been reported for weeks; after all, the A350-900 is the biggest plane to have landed in Dublin for yonks – and it came to the other side of the world. Yet, according to Moira, no one has thought of checking whether Dublin Airport can handle an airplane of this size: the initial land bridge is too low, and tries to raise it high enough to meet the gates of Airbus down. Needless to say, it's a lovely startup problem and everything will have been settled by the time you read this.
THE VERDICT
Cathay Pacific remains a world leader, with excellent connections between Australia and Europe. Out of Five
