Cathay Pacific Has Soft Opened Their London Lounge

Cathay Pacific has today soft-opened their much anticipated London Heathrow lounge in T3. The lounge will officially open on December 7th to eligible customers.

The lounge has been completely upgraded and is now 1200 square meters in size. The lounge features separate areas for business and first class passengers.

Per Cathay Pacific,

“At Cathay Pacific, we care about our passengers’ experience at every stage of their journey – from the moment they arrive at the airport until they reach their destination – and our exciting new Heathrow lounge was designed to enable our customers to travel well. Our aim was to provide our passengers with a tranquil haven to relax before boarding their flights to Hong Kong and we hope our customers are as enthusiastic about the new lounge as we are.”

First Class passengers will access to the ‘Dining Room’ and will also have dishes to order from a chef. First passengers can also use the ‘Pantry’ for grabbing snacks and drinks, very similar to the Pier in Hong Kong.

The Pantry – The Pier Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge

Business passengers will be able to access their famous ‘Noodle Bar’ and the ‘Food Hall’ which has many Asian and international dishes to choose from.

Cathay Pacific London Lounge (Image – Cathay Pacific)

The lounge also features eight shower suites and a whole lot of comfortable seating.

Here are some photos of the new lounge:

The lounge is designed by Studioilse, and they have designed the London lounge around their award winning lounges in various airports.

Cathay Pacific London Lounge (Image – Cathay Pacific)

At 12000 square meters, the lounge is filled with new seating.

Cathy Pacific London Lounge (Image – Cathay Pacific)

First class & Business class  Oneworld Emerald & Sapphire members and Marco Polo elites will be able to access the lounge from 5:30 am from Monday to Saturday and 7:30 am on Sunday until 10:30 pm.

Bottom Line

The new lounge looks very impressive. I like how Cathay keep their lounge almost the same but also have some slight changes which make them great to visit.

Melbourne Airport Running Out Of Fuel…

I don’t often like to share main news articles because the accuracy can be way off and exaggerated. However, this is a story that makes you go WTF.

So apparently Melbourne Airport has a fuel shortage, and they have been rationing it between flights since yesterday and it’s gotten that bad that flights are having to divert.

Per Nine News,

Matt Smith, a chief tech officer at Software AG, says Cathay Pacific staff had told passengers at Melbourne Airport that all long-haul flights from Melbourne would be sent via other Australian cities, which would add an hour and a half to their journey.

“Meaning if you connect (like me in Hong Kong) and have two hours or less – they are telling you there is no way you’ll make it,” Mr. Smith told AAP via Twitter.

Also per Cathay Pacific,

Due to the local fuel provider experiencing a supply issue, an additional technical stop for refueling will be required on flights departing from Melbourne to Hong Kong, as detailed below:

25 November
CX134 from Melbourne to Hong Kong
Technical stop in Cairns, CNS. Arrival delay of approximately 1hr 55mins.

CX104 from Melbourne to Hong Kong
Technical stop in Adelaide, ADL. Arrival delay of approximately 1hr 35mins.

26 November
CX134 from Melbourne to Hong Kong
Technical stop in Adelaide, ADL. Arrival delay of approximately 1hr 45mins.

CX104 from Melbourne to Hong Kong
Technical stop in Adelaide, ADL. Arrival delay of approximately 1hr 40mins.

I have never heard of an airport running out of fuel, and it seems very strange. The article also states that domestic operations haven’t been affected, so why are just the international ones being diverted?

Bottom Line

The whole situation is quite strange and also very intriguing. I’d say a few people will be in a lot of trouble and could lose their job.

Dragonair Are Now Cathay Dragon As Of Today

As of today (21st November 2016) Dragonair is officially Cathay Dragon. Cathay Pacific had always owned and operated small various parts of the airline, and now they completely own them.

Together the two carriers will fly up to 180 different countries with Cathay Pacific mainly doing more international and long-haul travel whereas Cathay Dragon focuses on mainland China routes.

Cathay Dragon (image – Cathay Pacific)

The two airlines will utilize their Hong Kong hub for easy connections around the world. Cathay Dragon will also use Cathay’s lounges, and they also use the same frequent flyer program ”Marco Polo”.

Cathay Dragon operates a fleet of 15 A320’s with, and without business class, 8 A321 aircraft in an all-economy layout and 19 A330’s with business and even some first class. (Cathay Dragon first class is the same as Cathay Pacific Business class)

Cathay Dragon first class (image – Cathay Dragon)

Cathay Pacific even made a video about the two carriers:

 

 

Confirmed – Cathay Will Be 10-Abreast In Economy

Cathay Pacific has today announced that they will be introducing 10-abreast economy seating on their 777 fleet. This will make many travellers angry as 3-4-3 on a long haul flight can be very uncomfortable. It is believed that the changes will be implemented on their current 2 and 3 class 777-300ER’s and their future 777X’s which are scheduled to be delivered between 2021 and 2024. No information is yet available to when these changes will happen.

Per the South China Morning News

Chief executive Ivan Chu Kwok-leung said in an exclusive interview: “If you look at the Boeing 777s, which everybody uses from the Gulf to the US to European carriers and ourselves, the standard is 3-4-3. I think we are moving towards that stage, it’s very clear.”

A shortage of take-off and landing slots at Hong Kong International Airport means Cathay and local rivals like HK Express, are unable to expand the number of flights with the two runways operating at almost 100 per cent capacity every day.
“Slots are very scarce,” Chu said. “We want to generate more seats per slot, that’s the key thing. That’s why we are doing it. It’s very important we do it.”

Flight attendant Silvia But, vice-chairwoman of the airline’s Flight Attendants Union, said: “If there is one more seat per row, I cannot imagine how narrow it will be. For passengers it’s definitely bad news.”

Cathay 777 Economy (image: Travelskills.com)

 

Review – The New Cathay Pacific Pier Business Class Lounge Hong Kong

While my layover waiting for my flight to Tokyo I was very interested in going and having a look at the newly renovated Pier business class lounge. While visiting Hong Kong on my previous trip the lounge was closed getting last finishes for the opening a few days after I left.

As you can by the entry photos the Pier lounges are almost identical.

After entering the lounge you get an idea of how big the lounge is, it’s massive!

Entry Into The Pier Business

Hallway Entrance

Luggage Lockers

Washrooms

Food Hall

Fresh Juices

Food Hall

Food Hall

Bar Area

Bar Seating Area

Main Bar

Noodle Bar

Noodle Bar

Noodle Bar Seating Area

Noodle Bar

Noodle Bar

Self Serve Bar

Self Serve Bar

Tea House

Tea House

Tea House

Relaxation Room Entry

Relaxation Room

Relaxation Room

The lounge is spilt into 2 parts. The first part consists of all the various bars, dining areas etc. The second part of the lounge facing the windows are all seating areas. The lounge with it’s size wasn’t busy at the front but the same can’t be said about the 1st part of the lounge.

Summary

I think Cathay have done a brilliant job renovating this lounge. I would love to spend time in it next time instead of 10 minutes rushing around taking photos.

Review – Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong To Tokyo Narita

After my flight from Sydney I was headed to Tokyo Narita. At the time of booking I was happy to find first class availability quite open and grabbed immediately booked the seat. I decided to take CX520 as I then could have some time to review a few lounges In Hong Kong.

The redemption cost me 50,000 AAdvantage miles. To find award space on Cathay Pacific online you can use the British Airways Avios website or the Qantas award search. All Cathay bookings with American have to be done over the phone.

Today my flight was operated by a 777-300ER which features just 6 first class suites. Various aircraft are put on the route such as the older 747-400 and A330-300. The A330 does not have a first class cabin.

Even though Cathay’s first doesn’t have closing suites they are still quite private. With only 6 seats its very spacious and privacy isn’t a big issue. For solo travel I would recommend seat 1A, 1K and for couples, 1/2 D/K seats.

Boeing 77W B-KPA

I was assigned seat 1A which is perfect for solo travel.

Seat 1A

The first class seat is extremely wide and is extremely comfortable. I’d have to say its one of the more comfortable seats I’ve sat in.

The crew came around and offered a beverage before takeoff, I decided on water. In 2 more years you will see champagne before takeoff 😉

Hot Towel

Bose Headset

3 Windows For Each Seat

As we began our pushback there was some nice aircraft to look at.

United 777

Due to my obsession with Etihad as soon as I saw a newly painted A330 I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Easily the best livery in the sky.

Etihad A330

Cathay 777

The view from takeoff was incredible, I’ve only ever taken off from Hong Kong at night so I was pretty happy to get a view like that.

As we climbed to our cursing altitude I began to explore the inflight entertainment options. The annoying part about Cathy pacific’s IFE system is they play a lot of ads before you can watch what you’ve chosen.

The crew came around and handed out the Beverage and Menu for the flight as well as offering drinks.

Various Beverages

Menu’s: LUNCH – PRALINES –  JAPANESE MEAL – DRINK LIST – CHAMPAGNE – PROMOTIONAL WINES – WHITE WINES – RED WINES – PORT – APERITIFS AND COCKTAILS – WHISKIES  – COGNAC – LIQUEURS – BEER – SIGNATURE DRINKS

Loch Fyne Salmon, Potato And Dill Salad

Bread Basket

Steamed Chicken, Chinese Ham, Black Mushroom, Lotus Leaf, Shanghainese Pak Choy, Carrot And Steamed Jasmine Rice

Peanut Butter Cake And Mixed Berry Compote

The view while eating lunch was fantastic, such a beautiful day to fly.

After lunch I decided to go and explore the cabin and seat a little more. The seat is extremely comfortable and I am really wanting to fly it long haul now.

The ottoman can be another seat for couples wanting to dine together. Underneath is where your bag is stored.

Cathay use Aēsop products in first class, the same as their first class lounges which is a nice. The bathroom is very spacious and clean.

 

As I went back to my seat they came and delivered a drink to my seat. I thought that was a nice gesture.

Perrier And Still Water

Reading Material Holder

Duty Free, Discover Magazine and Safety Card

What A View!

Unfortunately I didn’t get ant arrival shots of Narita. I was too busy trying to find Mt Fuji 😉

Summary

After trialling Cathay Pacific First I really want to try it on a long haul flight. The seat was extremely comfortable, the food was prepared very well and they offer a fantastic long haul menu and the crew were outstanding.