CATHAY PACIFIC
“Cathay has two different configurations of the B777-300ER aircraft on this route. This was the three-class (Config 1) version, with no first class, so upon entering the aircraft you are straight into business, which rather oddly starts at the front with row 11. Once on board, I was asked for my jacket, which the flight attendant took after first enquiring if there were any valuables in it.
“The seat has a real sense of space to it, both in terms of how wide it is and also the general privacy and airiness of the design. Sliding out of the armrest, the table is firm for working on, and the in-flight entertainment system is extremely good. The touchscreen display is sharp, the noise-cancelling headphones excellent, and the sound very clear. There is also a huge range of movies.
“We pushed back on time but then had a long wait for take-off because of a busy London Heathrow – it was 2110 before we were airborne. ( This seems to be pretty standard for this flight.) Drinks were swiftly served once airborne – Billecart-Salmon Brut champagne is an option. The dinner menu features two starters (smoked eel with golden beetroot tartare, and mixed salad with white wine asparagus), plus four mains, including pappardelle pasta with spicy tomato mascarpone sauce, and stir-fried beef tenderloin, leeks, peppers, lotus root, tofu and steamed jasmine rice.
“After the meal, I reclined the seat and went to sleep. The bed is very comfortable with lots of space – you can roll to one side or the other, and there is plenty of legroom, enabling various sleeping positions. I didn’t think I was very tired but still slept for a good seven hours, waking at about 1300 Hong Kong time. I could have slept on but with the time difference I wanted to wake up, so went to the galley and got an orange juice as the flight attendants began preparing breakfast.”