In this trip report, I review my flight on Hong Kong Airlines in business class on their A330 from Hong Kong to Shanghai. This flight was for a recent work trip, and I booked with Hong Kong airlines as Cathay Pacific was booked up, and the flight times of this Hong Kong Airlines flight suited my flight schedule. The flight was a morning flight, and the plane was an A330-200.
The plane had a two-class configuration. There were 18 business class seats and 246 economy class seats. The business class had four rows of 1-2-1 configuration and the last row of one seat on each window. I was seated on the first row at 11C, which was a seat on the left side of the plane.
Waiting for me at my seat was a pillow, a blanket, and slippers. After seating, the stewardesses came around and distributed bottles of Evian water, a hot towel, and the noise-canceling headphones. My seat was 21 inches wide and had a pitch of 45 inches. In front of my seat was a small footrest, which had a small compartment underneath to store my shoes.
On the left side of the seat was the side table. The seat controls, in-flight entertainment remote, and power socket were located below this, while a reading light and compartment for the magazine and menus were on top of the table. In front of me was the TV screen, and on its left was the tray table folded up. A coat hanger is located to the left of the table.
Soon, the flight was fully boarded, and we took off. I noticed that the business class section of the plane was not at full capacity. I started watching a TV series while waiting to reach cruising altitude. The in-flight entertainment system of Hong Kong Airlines contained a decent number of movies, TV series, music, and games.
Shortly after reaching cruising altitude, the flight attendants came around and began taking orders for the meal. I must note that the business class menu on Hong Kong Airlines is very colorful! The design was apparently done in collaboration with artists in Hong Kong. There was a decent selection of food and drinks. However, as I was trying to catch up on sleep, I opted to skip the main course altogether and just had water, coffee, fruits, and yogurt. No champagne at 9:00 am for me on a work trip!
After the quick bite, I proceeded to recline the seat into the fully flatbed. I managed to catch some light sleep on this short 2-hour 30-minute flight. I was woken up by the flight stewardess when we were preparing to land.
Overall, Hong Kong Airlines met my expectations for a short-haul flight. I was already very relieved and happy that this flight was not a 2-2-2 configuration despite being a short-haul. I guess competing with Cathay Pacific is not easy, and you really have to step it up. As I understand, there are other different seat configurations for Hong Kong Airlines. I would recommend taking their 1-2-1 business class planes if you have the choice!
If you are booking any travel, don’t forget to compare prices with quotes from our luxury travel concierge before booking. We offer discounted Business Class flights and valuable free upgrades, free breakfasts, and VIP benefits at luxury hotels.
Review By Lenard Lim.
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