I last flew with Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, over 20 years ago. I combined the reviews since the aircraft type and experience were the same for both legs. The Economy Class seat was comfortable with its thick padding, and the onboard entertainment was comprehensive to keep me entertained for the flight. The food portion was mediocre, and the service was lukewarm.

Check-in

Singapore Changi Airport

Cathay Pacific, along with Korean Air and Vietnam Airlines, are the few full-fledged airlines flying out of Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 4. Terminal 4 mainly services regional budget carriers such as Air Asia, Jetstar, VietJet, etc. Despite the upgrade to eliminate the budget feel in Changi Airport Terminal 4 to look like the other three terminals, utilising technology to reduce human interactions and shorten the queue for check-in and immigration process, the terminal feels like a step down from the other terminals due to the reduced shopping and food offerings. Cathay Pacific check-in counters occupy Row 6 in the terminal building. Most counters are self-serviced check-in counters, with two manned counters helping passengers check in their luggage. We used the staffed counter, and although the queue was short, the wait time was around 10 mins. The check-in experience was smooth, and the ground staff was efficient. We received a warm welcome from the ground staff and a friendly reminder that the gate where our flight would depart is a fair walk from immigration in Terminal 4.

Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Airport

Cathay Pacific check-in counters are located in Rows B and C in Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 1, on the left side of the airport terminal. While Row B is dedicated to First and Business Class passengers, Row C is dedicated to Premium Economy and Economy Class passengers. Despite the several self-service kiosks for passengers to self-check in, the ground staff were not pushy in getting passengers to do self-check-in. The wait at the check-in queue moved quickly as almost all the staffed check-in counters at Hong Kong International Airport were manned. We only waited for 5 minutes to get our bags checked in. The staff at the check-in counter seemed more task-oriented, with a lack of welcomes, but she was fast in processing our check-in. The ground staff only provided information about the boarding gate and time and did not give us further information on how to get to our boarding gate. Fortunately, there are signs everywhere in Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 1 that make locating our boarding gate a breeze.

The Aircraft

Cathay Pacific uses several aircraft types to service the Singapore to Hong Kong route. Our aircraft type changed from A330-300 to B777-300 to A350-900 to A350-1000 since our booking. Finally, the airlines assigned the A350-1000 for both Singapore and Hong Kong legs.

The Cabin

Cathay Pacific’s A350-1000 has a three-class configuration: Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class. The 334 seats are spread throughout the aircraft, with 46 seats in Business, 32 in Premium Economy, and 256 in Economy Class. The Economy Class cabin is further segregated in the forward and rear sections. The Economy Class cabin onboard Cathay Pacific looked clean and bright, owing to the white lighting used during boarding. The huge logo at the door and Cathay Pacific’s signature green colour draping its Economy Class seats contributed to the Cathay Pacific brand identity the moment I entered the Economy Class cabin. Other than the airline’s signature green colour, a darker hue of green was used on the seats’ headrest. The ambience in the Economy Class cabin changed during the flight, where orange and light blue mood lighting was used.

Lavatories are found between the two Economy Class sections and to the rear of the aircraft. There are two more upfront at the Premium Economy Cabin to serve passengers in that cabin. The lavatory felt smaller than the likes onboard Singapore Airlines’ wide-body aircraft. These lavatories were brightly lighted, giving out a refreshing look. The sink is pretty sizeable, and I like the motion-activated tap. Cathay Pacific only armed their lavatories with hand gel, lotion and hand soap. Other amenities, such as dental kits, were nowhere to be found, probably due to the short flight time. The amenities in the Premium Economy cabin lavatories were slightly better, where I found Brandford branded hand lotion and hand soap on top of those in the Economy Class lavatory. The cleanliness of the lavatories was questionable, and I was met with sticky lavatory floors on both flights.

The Seat

Seats in the Economy Class cabin onboard Cathay Pacific A350-1000 are arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration. With a seat pitch of 32″, width of 8″ and the thick padding Cathay Pacific used on these seats, I find the seats very comfortable for the 4-hour flight. The 6″ recline felt like a cradle that enabled me to get some snooze onboard. The extra thick padded headrest contributed to the comfort of the seat. The legroom is very generous on Cathay Pacific’s Economy Class seats, where I had a good amount of gap between my knee and the seat in front. The legroom is so good that I was able to straighten my legs. Only one button controls the decline of the seat fitted on the armrest. The rest of the controls, like the attendant call button and reading light, are done via the touchscreen personal TV.

Cathay Pacific uses a bi-fold design on its tray tables, which allows passengers to use the table without fully deploying should they need space to place smaller items. I find the size of the tray tables to be similar to those found in any other airliner. Cathay Pacific was thoughtful enough to cater a small indent on the tray table, in both folded and fully deployed mode, for passengers to place their drinks on.

There is quite a fair bit of storage space for the Economy Class seat. The seat pocket is of a good size where passengers can stow larger items. I like the inclusion of a small netted pocket in front of the seat pocket for passengers for smaller items, where I mainly used to stow my mobile phone. Besides the seat pockets, Cathay Pacific also fitted a small cubby under the personal TV, providing additional storage space for its Economy Class passengers. Although this cubby was originally designed for passengers to place their tablets, I found using it to stow my mobile phone adequate. However, this cubby is a tad narrow in that I could not close it when placing my mobile phone. A cup holder is designed onto the “door” of this small cubby, giving passengers additional space to place their drinks without deploying the tray table.

Inflight Entertainment

Every Economy Class passenger flying with Cathay Pacific is treated with an 11.6″ touchscreen personal entertainment system. No IFE controllers are fitted on the seats, instead, the IFE system is controlled via the touchscreen function on the IFE TV. I encountered no lagging issues while operating the IFE TV’s touchscreen function. The entertainment options are intuitively organised, and the movie options are further organised into new movies, Asian cinema, Hollywood hits, and TV box sets. Cathay Pacific supplies its Economy Class passengers with overhead headphones that produce decent sound quality and are good enough to get the job done. The A350-1000 aircrafts have Wi-Fi facilities, but Wi-Fi is not complimentary on Cathay Pacific. Rates started from USD3.95 for messaging functions.

Meal Service

Meal service on both legs commenced about 1 hour after take-off. Flight attendants sprung into action, pushing their trolley carts down the aisle and distributing food. Flight attendants did one round of snack and drink distribution on the flight from Hong Kong to Singapore, which was not seen in the Singapore to Hong Kong leg. Cathay Pacific did not distribute any inflight menus for Economy Class passengers, nor were the menus found in the IFE system.

SIN – HKG

We were given two meal options: Fish or Beef for this leg of the flight. The fish option included rice and vegetables; the beef was served with pasta and broccoli. I opted for the beef option, while my friend chose the fish option. The beef was drowned in a brown sauce, and the almond-looking pasta was not too dry. Meals were served with a barley salad (which is not to my liking) and a small fruit platter. Chocolate Haagen-Dazs ice cream was distributed separately from the main meal. I found the meal to be of a good portion, but the taste was rather mediocre.

HKG – SIN

The meals on the Hong Kong to Singapore leg were much tastier. For this flight, we were given the option of chicken with mashed potato and broccoli and pork with rice. I opted for the chicken, which I find quite flavourful and not too dry, and the mashed potato was well cooked. My friend opted for the pork option, which was equally tasty. Meals came with ham salad and a small fruit platter. We were given Berries-flavoured Haagen-Dazs ice cream for dessert, served together with the main meal. I thought the catering out of Hong Kong tasted better, although the presentation was a tad messier.

Service

SIN-HKG

The service onboard Cathay Pacific in Economy Class was lukewarm. Pursuers came across as unapproachable, and requesting items such as blankets or drinks seemed like a chore. There were no smiles or greetings from passengers when we boarded the aircraft. The flight attendants were not seen helping passengers with their luggage. We were left on our own to sort out our seating and carry-on storage. The only times we spotted cabin crew on this 4-hour flight were limited to pre-flight and pre-landing safety checks and once each for meal distribution and tray collection. Cabin crew members were not seen diligently patrolling the cabin.

HKG – SIN

The onboard service on this flight was better than our flight to Hong Kong. At the door, a male flight attendant – Jack- warmly greeted us. It is a pity that Jack is assigned to service the Premium Economy Class cabin. When I requested a cup of Coke from Jack after my trip to the lavatory, Jack immediately dropped whatever he was doing and focused on my request. The flight attendant assigned to my section was seen smiling constantly during meal service. She was also seen patrolling the cabin several times after meal service, on top of the pre-departure and pre-landing checks. I witnessed her helping another passenger with overhead luggage storage issues by locating and shifting his hand carry over to a nearby compartment. Flight attendants were seen going around the cabin looking for status members and introducing themselves to these members. Despite paying lip service, I thought this was a good gesture in allowing these status members to feel recognised.

Afterthought

Cathay Pacific has very good Economy Class hard products. The seats are very comfortable, and the legroom is superb. The inflight entertainment system is loaded with entertainment options, with a very responsive touchscreen personal TV. However, I find the service to be generally average and inconsistent. On one flight, we got a set of flight crew who were diligent and made one feel welcome flying with the airline; on another flight, we had a set of crew who did not seem to be happy working for the airline. While I am fond of the hard product, I am not a fan of the service onboard.