Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International

From the security checkpoints I walked to the “The Wing” Lounge where I had arranged to meet a friend. She was flying on Qatar Airways and also holding BA Emerald Status and therefore able to guest me into the first class parts of “The Wing” and “The Pier” in Hong Kong. After some difficulties, we found each other and I was able to enter the “The Wing” as guest of my friend.

The First Class part of “The Wing” is located on level immediately after security and open daily from 05:30 till the last flight had departed.

The lounge had been renovated and the interior was designed by Forster and Partners, who also designed the airport itself.

My friend was sitting just after the entrance area where the Champagne Bar was located. The Champagne Bar is a new element and part of the ‘welcome to the First Class lounge experience’, thus it is located right behind the entrance, though there is no through traffic. Red leather arm chair with dark tiles add to the luxurious impression. After two glasses of champagne (Veuve Clicquoet and Dom Perignon for me, Krug for her) I walked through the lounge, which was not that busy. The design is modern and in a way timeless. A number of Solus Chairs add to the ‘corporate design’ of Cathay. Lush leather arnchairs, sofas and table are part of the main open lounge area. The restaurant “The Haven” has been enlarged during renovation and more than doubled it seating capacity from 36 to now 84 seats. Close by is “The Haven” bar which is in the open part overlooking the apron and the gates, giving you the possibility to sip on your gin tonic watching the plane come and go. 12 shower cabanas are available for guests who want to shower and refresh after a long flight. Those suites are now fully enclosed. Business Traveller might be delighted to hear that an ironing service is available with a turnaround time of maximum 20 minutes. Overall the seating capacity in the lounge is now 167 compared to 123 in the old lounge.
The part of the former “The Wings” Business Class Lounge was still part of the first class lounge, which limits the number of available seats in the Business Class Lounge as I already had discovered through my “night stay” in this lounge.

We cut the time in this lounge a bit short as we wanted to experience the “The Pier” First Class Lounge, which also was recently renovated.

We walked over there and arrived there a few minutes before 22:00.

The Pier is located close to gate 63 and 65 one level down from the main concourse. This lounge was re-opened on June 20, 2015 after it had undergone a massive renovation. It is open from 06:00 to around midnight. With a seize of over 2000 square metres and offers space for up to 230 guests. The design and layout is different from those of “The Wing”. It is less open style but has a more sectioned layout giving the lounge the impression of a contemporary apartment. The interior designer Isle Crawford chose an approach with various different designs according to the parts moving away from the corporate design. This means, there are no Solus chairs in this lounge. There is bar at one end of the lounge with a half round bar and seats on both sides. A small library offers a selection of international newspapers and magazines. Close by it “The Pantry” where passengers can enjoy a grab and go buffet from a breakfast menu in the morning and later from an all-day menu. A spa offers a neck and shoulder or foot massage and if you want to shower, 14 shower suites are available. Also available on a first comes, first serves base area 8 private day break suites in the “Retreat Zone” with day beds, reading light and window blinds and dark curtain if you want to take a nap instead of watching the planes.
After a quick walk through the lounge, a glimpse at the quite extensive selection of magazine and newspapers in the library, we went to the “Dining Room”, which was also not very busy as the whole lounge was quiet, which was a nice difference from the buzzing terminal upstairs. At the entrance to the restaurant, we were greeted by a member of staff and shown a table. We both got the menu and the quite extensive wine list.

We ordered both dishes from the menu (I did not take any photos as I had to use flash and did not want to disturb other guests) which was delivered promptly. I ordered also a glass of “2013 Villa Brunesca Pinot Grigio” and a glass of sparkling water, which came with a lemon. This is usually a no-go if also ordering wine but this was the only down. The food was good, though not outstanding, and the portion was of the small side. But I did not saw this negatively.

We chatted a bit about our upcoming trips and how different single travelling male and female passengers are treated differently by various airlines, from no difference, to assuming it is the wife of the male passengers on the next seat to ignoring the female passenger completely. This usually does not happen to a single male passenger.
The time in the lounge passed very quickly and I left the lounge round about 25 minutes before midnight and walked towards gate 28, where our flight to Frankfurt was about to leave. As expected, boarding had not started yet. Our flight today was performed by Boeing 777-367ER with the registration B-KQI. The plane was not very old as it joined the fleet of Cathay Pacific on September 30, 2013 and was ferried from Everett on the same day and arrived in Hong Kong on October 01, 2013. It was equipped with six seats in First Class, 53 seats in Business Class, 34 seats in Premium Economy and 182 seats in Economy Class.

The plane was like the Triple Seven on the flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong powered by two General Electric GE90-115B engines.

As the boarding gate were two counters, one serving Economy Class passengers while the other one was signed as First and Business Class. In front of them were four lines, one for passengers travelling in First Class or holding oneworld Emerald Status, one for Business Class or holding oneworld Sapphire Status, one for Premium Passengers and one for Economy Class. A queue had already formed at the line for Economy Class, while waiting passengers approached the lines as the announcement was made, that boarding would start shortly. We were also invited to join the dedicated lines and agents checked the passports and the tickets and directed passengers to the right line. The recognition for oneworld status is from my experience better than on flights of Star Alliance.
Boarding started around 23:45 with First Class / Emeralds soon followed by Business Class / Sapphire Members.

19 August 2015
HKG – FRA
[Hong Kong International – Frankfurt Rhein-Main]
CX 289 (Cathay Pacific); Boeing 777-300ER (B-KQI)
Gate 28
00:25 – 06:35 [effective 01:18 – 06:46]
Business Class
Seat 20 K

At the entrance to the plane a flight attendant welcomed me and gave me directions how to reach my seat. Passing through the First Class Cabin and the small first part of the Business Class I headed to the main Business Class, where I had opted for seat 20K.

The pillow was lying on the seat while the blanket was placed on the footrest of my seat. I put everything I needed during the flight out of my carry on and stored it. There is a compartment at the side of the window-side of the seat, which could not be used for takeoff and landing. But so far, I have not seen this enforced too much if smaller items like a notepad or a magazine are paced there, not sure how it is handled if I place a laptop there. My camera usually goes into the storage where also the headphone is placed and it fits there nicely. But I still find the storage space somehow limited for this type of seat.

Pre Departure Drink

Cathay Delight

Flight attendants were serving pre-departure drinks while Economy Class passengers were boarding and it was either a Cathay Delight, Champagne, orange juice, apple juice or water available. I went for the Cathay Delight, after three glasses of champagne and two glasses of Pinot Grigio I decided to stay healthy on this flight. A hot towel was later also offered as boarding was completed.

We were still at the gate and cargo was loaded into the plane, as the captain introduced himself and welcomed us on board. He mentioned a flight time of 11:20 and also that our departure would be delayed. One reason was that we otherwise would be too early in Frankfurt and that the loading of Cargo was not finished. He expected us to be at the gate for another 30 minutes. The crew used the time on the ground, to distribute the printed menu and the amenity kit, which came in a green bag. The purser had already welcomed us and the safety video was shown while we were still on the ground. Unlike on the Airbus 340 on my previous two flights, this time the screens in business class were folded out.
A few minutes after the safety video was shown, the captain gave us an update of our departure. Due to our later departure, we would now experience a further delay due to air traffic control in China. The Chinese airspace was still very busy and we would be parked at the gate for another 10 to 15 minutes. He nevertheless expected an on time or only short delay for our arrival in Frankfurt.

Finally, at 01.18 nearly one hour late, we were pushed back and taxied around the terminal to runway 25 L. At 01:35 the captain powered the engines and we left Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok Airport. Our path took us towards the Chinese Sea making a U turn and passing Hong Kong to the south before we turned to the north and flew over Shenzhen into Chinese airspace and turned later in a north-western direction.

Aperitif

Cathay Delight

Ten minutes after departure, the crew left their stations and the curtain between the cabins were closed and the service started. A beverage service was done and I opted for another glass of Cathay Delight, which was brought soon later, as it was not stored on the beverage cart. A little bit later, a flight attendant laid the tray table with linen. The seat belt signs were still on and it was little bit bumpy. Like other airlines, hot beverages are not served if the seat belt signs are turned on. A bottle of water was offered for the night time.

Time for a glimpse into the menu and the wine leaflet (click on icon, opens new window)

Round about 2:10 Hong Kong Time the meal service finally started. It was done using the cart and the flight attendant asked if I would like to have the full meal service or the reduced light meal. Since I had dinner in the lounge, I went with the light meal, which consisted of a salad and a soup.

Light Meal

Cannellini bean and garlic soup (not served due to turbulence), grissini
Parma ham, feta, Kalamata olives and honey mustard dressing
Seasonal berries and rose syrup

While I was eating the dish, the beverage cart came around and it seems that only passengers with the full meal service were offered a choice of beverage. I think it could not be that difficult to ask a passenger, if like to have a glass of wine or anything else, as my glass of Cathay Delight was empty, but the flight attendant looked at my plate and simply passed my seat, which I think is not really acceptable. The seat belt signs were still on as a flight attendant approached me and told me, that the light meal comes with a soup, but with the seat belt signs still on, they could not serve it. This means, that I either had to wait until the seat belt signs were switched off or to pass on the soup. I went for the later and asked the crew member to take my tray. After a quick visit to the lavatories, I lowered my seat and called it a night with the meal service still in full swing and the main course not even served.

I was able to get some interrupted sleep for round about 7 hours, which I consider as quite good. We had round about three hours and 20 minutes to go and I decide to put my seat back in an upright position and continue with the trip reports and listen to the play list I had selected before meal service.

Two hours and twenty minutes before scheduled arrival time in Frankfurt, which was ten minutes behind schedule, the lights in the cabin were slowly dimmed on and 20 minutes later a beverage service was done.

Time for look into the menu about the available breakfast options (click on icon, opens new window).

First Course

Mango and passion fruit smoothie
Fresh seasonal fruit
Greek yoghurt, apricot compote and granola
croissant

Main Course

Dim Sum
Chicken and ham bean curd wrap, siu mai, seafood dumpling,
Mushroom and vegetable dumpling, pork and chive dumpling

Available were coffee, tea, juices and a mango-passion smoothie. I went for a coffee and a smoothie, which was good. A little bit later, another flight attendant laid the tray table with linen. At 04:20 Frankfurt time, the first course arrived together with cutlery and napkin on the tray. A choice of rolls, muffins and croissant along with jam and peanut butter was also offered and I asked for a croissant. There was a spoon missing for the yoghurt and this was later brought by a flight attendant as they noticed not having in on the cart with the first course and only a small spoon was among the cutlery on the tray.

Twenty minutes later the main course of the breakfast service was served and I went for dim sum, which was the more appealing option to me, even without looking on the presented food offerings. It was also the only way to end this trip to Asia in an appropriate way.

A refill of coffee was later offered before the trays finally were cleared. I continued to use my laptop for the remaining flight time. We had already started our descend into Frankfurt as the captain came again over the intercom. He expected a straight approach into Frankfurt from easterly direction and to be on the ground at 06:35. He mentioned the remaining flight time with 30 minutes.

Arriving in easterly direction meant, we had to taxi back round about 3 kilometres to terminal 2, which could take some time, depending on how busy Frankfurt Rhein-Main was at this early morning. The crew continued to clear remaining mugs and glasses from the beverage service. Ten minutes later, the captain asked the crew to prepare the cabin for arrival and now it was finally time to shut the laptop down and store all belongings in the carry on. The crew came around and asked those passengers who still had their seats not yet in the fully upright position as indicated by the green light being not on to put them fully upright. Of course, being the frequent flyer I am, I had done all these already but was allowed to use my laptop for the remaining flight time and all the way to the gate.
We touched down at 06:35 on runway 25 L of FRA and hat to taxi back to our gate 5 at terminal 5, where we arrived at 06:46. As the use of mobile phones was allowed, I used the long taxi to connect to the UMTS and send a few e-mails and downloaded the new ones as I was eagerly awaiting a confirmation if a meeting was taking place in Düsseldorf, which would have meant to use the Cathay Lounge for a shower and changing into office clothes rather than taking the train home and doing home office. Lucky I, the meeting was called off and there was no need to head to my office today. We could disembark after a short wait through the first door.

Not other plane had arrived at this time and so immigration was empty. The officers directed all European to the automated border control gates, which were all working.

Priority labelled luggage had its own baggage carrousel and appeared ahead of the baggage of Economy. This carrousel had not only stared as I was on my way to customs and then on to the skytrain for the quick ride over to terminal 1 and then to Deutsche Bahn Lounge for my train ride back home.

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Conclusion