Apr 07, 2004 10:55 AM
5748 Views
(Updated Apr 07, 2004 10:55 AM)
My first flight with Cathay Pacific is dated back to 1979.
I was in Hong Kong looking to fly to Seoul, South Korea but all flights with Korean Air were sold-out for the next 10 days.
So, I decided to give a try to Cathay Pacific.
I went to one of Cathay Pacific office and I bought an one way First class ticket to Seoul.
The next day I checked-in at Kai-Tak airport (the old and much missed airport of Hong Kong) in a couple of minutes and I was to my way to First class lounge.
The flight was good. Perfect service. Superb foods and drinks. But at the end I felt not fully satisfied. I missed something that only Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Girls were able to give away.
Since that day a lot of things changed.
Hong Kong is now part of the People Republic of China.
The main shareholder of Cathay is the China Government.
Cathay has one of the youngest fleet in the aviation world.
In First and Business the seat converts to a large bed (better in First, of course).
The seat pitch in Economy is the standard one for the Asian airlines (34?) but better than most of the European airlines.
Foods and wines are the best you can have in the sky. Even in Economy you have a choice of two entrees. Drinks, including wines and liquors, are free and are served without limitation. On long haul flights, in Business and Economy there is a snack corner with self-serve of drinks and snacks.
The cabin crew is efficient, ready to satisfy as much as possible any passenger need.
They are genuine and not ?robotic? as the Singapore Girls are now.
Whichever class you decide to fly in, the price/quality ratio is very high.
In the past 8 months I flew nine times from London or Frankfurt to Hong Kong and return.
Despite the SARS badly hurt the airlines industry (on most of my flights we were only 3 revenue passengers in First class) Cathay Pacific is still offering a top service without restrictions or reductions like many other airlines are doing claiming many unclear reasons (US airlines charge beer, wines and liquors in Economy and reduce the quantity in First and Business, for istance).
