Boarding was already starting when I arrived at the gate, and as the flight was no more than 30% full there was no queue for boarding, so I was able to proceed directly to my seat.
When I did the online check-in one day before departure, I was more interested in finding an empty part of the cabin, so I assigned myself seat 72A if I remember correctly, almost in the rear of the plane. From experience I like the seats in this area of the airplane, the fuselage is starting to narrow here, and the seat configuration goes from 2-4-2 to 2-3-2, so there is more space between the seats, and as the fuselage is not straight here, the seats are places a bit further from the windows, so the A-seats have more space than in the rest of the plane.
- Cathay Pacific CX708
- Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Hong Kong
- Monday, February 10, 2020
- Depart: 17:40
- Arrive: 21:25
- Duration: 2:45
- Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
- Seat: 72A.
- Introduction – A sudden Trip to Pattaya, Thailand.
- Review, Cathay Pacific Airbus A359 Hong Kong – Bangkok economy
- Review, Discovery Beach Hotel, Pattaya, Thailand
- Re-discovering Pattaya
- Review, Oman Air Business and First Class lounge, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
- Review, Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Bangkok – Hong Kong economy
Boarding was completed on time, and my plan for the check-in had worked, I almost had the entire cabin for myself, I think only 6 or 7 other seats in the rear cabin was occupied, and most importantly, I had my 2-seater for myself.
The leg space was decent, even with my 185 cm I had a good 10-15 or so centimeters to the seat in front of me, and I could easily extend my legs underneath the seat in front.
We pushed back on time, and after a short taxi we were airborne and en-route to Hong Kong. On the way to the departure runway we taxied past a Qatar Airways parked next to an El Al, I always wonder if airport authorities park those aircraft next to each other just for a laugh, they seem to be parked together almost everywhere I see them 😀
The seats on the plane were quite comfortable for economy class, and the tray table folded out from the seat in front, revealing a charger outlet that is compatible with almost all kinds of chargers, a nice touch that I haven’t seen on many other planes.
You could also slide the tray table back and forth, getting maybe 15cm space between yourself and the table if you wanted to.
We seemed to have unrestricted climb to cruise level, and it was a beautiful setting sun outside the window, so I just leaned back my seat (there was nobody sitting behind me) and enjoyed the view on top of the clouds for once.
Just after reaching cruise level dinner was served, and I had the option between ‘meat, chicken or vegetarian’. I went for the ‘meat’ option, which was quite tasty – and a Heineken to go with it.
The full meal consisted of some kind of ‘meat’ with mushrooms and mini corn and rice, a side dish of fresh fruits, a roll of bread, ice cream and a small cup of water. More than sufficient for a less than 3 hour flight in my opinion, and the food was both fresh and tasty (Although I was not quite able to figure out what kind of ‘meat’ it was).
I was then thinking of watching a movie before arrival, but I found the screens here as well to have a lot of glare and not having enough brightness, so I decided to read my book and have a quick nap instead, so I didn’t even check out the selection of movies or tv shows that were available.
Arriving into Hong Kong was without delay, and we landed slightly ahead of schedule, and had a quick taxi to gate W63, from which I needed to jump on the train to immigration and baggage arrivals hall.
Overall I must say it was a good flight, everything was on schedule, lots of space in the plane, good service and friendly cabin crew, tasty food and everything else you could wish for, so no reason not to fly Cathay again next time I need to travel somewhere and bring baggage too.