This is a combined trip report and spotting recap of my recent trip to Asia which brought me through Hong Kong (HKG), Shanghai (PVG), and Taipei (TPE). First let me apologize for the quality of some of the pictures as they were taken through aircraft windows and I've edited them on my computer screen which suffered from a liquid spill in my backpack during my PVG-HKG flight yesterday.
For my twentieth birthday and Christmas present my parents agreed to pay for my plane ticket to visit a friend of mine from college in Shanghai. The trip would be my first time in Asia and would include 7 days in Shanghai and 4 in Taiwan. For my flight options (NYC-PVG-NYC) I was originally looking at American via ORD and NRT, Turkish via IST, United direct, and Cathay Pacific via HKG. Ultimately I decided to go with Cathay Pacific to experience my first Asian airline and to try out their award winning service. For the PVG-TPE-PVG sector I had the option of flying China Airlines, EVA Air, or China Eastern/Air China however China Eastern/Air China was the cheapest so I booked with them on the A340-600/A340-300 for a 1hr30mn flight!
Flight experiences:
JFK-HKG CX845 777-300ER B-KPD: Cathay Pacific did not entirely live up to my expectations on this long-haul flight. Their controversial hardshell seats were certainly not the most comfortable for such a long flight and lacked adequate padding and under seat storage. The seats are also a little too high which makes the cabin feel more claustrophobic. The flight attendants were friendly enough, young and professional but with little enthusiasm for their job. I had asked for an oriental vegetarian meal which was a bit bland and consisted of grilled vegetables and repeated itself for dinner and breakfast. A perk of reserving a special meal is that you get your food way before anyone else does. As my meal did not come with ice cream, like the general service, I asked for some when the time came and my request was oddly decline by the flight attendant as it was not "part" of my meal. Fortunately my seat mate was nice enough to offer me his. There were regular rounds made by the flight attendants offerring water as well as cup of noodles half way through the flight. I was surprised that no amenity kits were handed out on the flight. We landed in HKG 30 minutes early during the very early AM.
Departing 31L:
Spotting in HKG:
HKG-PVG KA802 A330-300 B-HYE: After an easy transfer and a nice 3 hour layover spent spotting in the HKG airport I boarded my Dragonair A330-300 flight for the HKG-PVG sector. The A330 was nearly empty and the flight attendants were very attentive and friendly and I had a great vegetarian noodle dish. As the A330 was an ex-Cathay bird the seats were comfortable enough and had outdated PTV's showing a variety of tv shows. From disembarking to baggage claim it took me a mere 10 minutes and I was impressed to find my bag already waiting for me. I was very impressed with the service on Dragonair and would highly recommend them.
My aircraft:
The grounded Jade Cargo fleet in PVG:
PVG Spotting Wednesday, January 4th:
Part 2: http://nycaviation.com/forum/threads...132#post458132
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