Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing

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Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Lodging Review: Regent Beijing Hotel
Beijing: Dongcheng District
Beijing: The Great Wall
Beijing: Run-ze Jade Garden
Beijing: The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Beijing: The Legend of Kung Fu
Beijing: Tiananmen Square
Beijing: The Forbidden City
Beijing: Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Lodging Review: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Lhasa: Potala Palace
Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Viking Emerald
Shibaozhai Temple
Cruising the Three Gorges
Three Gorges Dam
Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Wuhan: Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Shanghai: Shanghai Museum
Lodging Review: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Shanghai: Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
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Tokyo: City Tour
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About 10 minutes before boarding time one of my companions and I left our third companion in The Cabin (his flight was an hour later) and headed back upstairs to our gate, which was only about two gates away from the entrance to The Cabin.

Boarding started on time and we entered through door 1L, turned right and went through the small (8 seats) first class cabin and into the first of the two business class cabins.

KA 900 – HKG-PEK
Departs: 8:00 AM
Arrives: 11:15 AM
Duration: 3h 20m
Aircraft: A330-300
Seat: 12C (Business Class)

Though our flight was on Cathay’s regional subsidiary, Dragon Air, I can’t imagine there was much difference between this plane and the Cathay B777 our friend flew an hour later.

I didn’t seem to get a photo of the seats though they reminded me a bit of those in Turkish Business Class. Seat controls were built into the side of the armrest, above the magazine holder.

Seat Controls

The IFE controller was beneath a flip-up panel in the center armrest.

IFE Controller

I liked the way the tray table slid out from the back of the seat in front of me. Fully opened up it was quite large.

Tray Fully Extended

But you could also have it open only halfway and still have room to stretch out. As you can see from the photo below, the foot cubby was quite spacious.

Tray Halfway Extended

The business class cabin is divided into two sections. The front section that we were in consisted of four rows of six seats while the mini-cabin behind us had three rows of six seats each. Our portion of the cabin was full.

Forward Business Class Cabin

Once getting airborne, it was time for (another) breakfast. After all it had been about three hours since we’d last eaten so we had to be hungry again, right? The menu:

My friend started off with OJ (or was it a mimosa?) while I had water.

OJ and Water

We both had the fresh fruit:

Fresh Fruit and Yogurt

And I had a croissant:

Croissant and Jelly

She had the beef tenderloin entree:

Beef Tenderloin Entree

I had the dim sum:

Dim Sum Entree

I had never had dim sum before and figured this was a decent place to try it because if I didn’t like it I wasn’t out any money and could send it back for something else. I can’t say I like everything and the phyllos were a little rubbery for my taste but some of it wasn’t bad. Not exactly a glowing recommendation but I was trying to be a little adventurous!

We touched down on time in Beijing’s Terminal 3. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an airport terminal this large. It seemed we walked forever just to get to Customs and from there the train ride to baggage claim was quite long as well.

I was a little surprised that Cathay runs three- and four-cabin aircraft on this relatively short route but considering the number of people flying back and forth between Hong Kong and Beijing I’m sure they have no problem filling the plane almost every flight.

Once again this was a solid offering by Cathay/Dragonair and I’d be very happy to fly with them again.