Hello from Japan, as I just flew Hong Kong Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 business class on the 3hr30min flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to Tokyo Narita (NRT). My goal was to get to Japan, but with the Chinese New Year holiday period, flights on All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines, were either entirely sold out, or had outrageous fares and no award availability.
Fortunately I found a fare I was comfortable with for Hong Kong Airlines business class, which presented a fun opportunity to fly with the airline again. Hong Kong Airlines has the same owners as China’s Hainan Airlines, and the airline has had a rough many years. For a short time, the airline was trying to grow globally and compete more with Cathay Pacific, and even acquired A350s (I reviewed the carrier’s A350 business class). However, amid major financial challenges, the company shrunk, dumped all of its A350s, etc.
So, how is Hong Kong Airlines’ A330 business class nowadays? On the plus side, the crew was friendly, and it’s nice to get a flat bed on a flight within Asia. However, when you’re competing in Hong Kong, the product is decidedly second rate compared to Cathay Pacific, in terms of cabin appearance and maintenance, amenities, entertainment, (lack of) Wi-Fi, etc. In this post I’d like to share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report.
Hong Kong Airlines’ lounge doesn’t set a great tone
Before I even talk about the onboard experience, let me mention that I visited Hong Kong Airlines’ Club Autus, which is the carrier’s only airport lounge. The lounge just doesn’t set a great tone for the experience, on many levels:
- The lounge just wasn’t well maintained, with two of the three urinals broken, one of the three bathroom stalls broken, and the showers closed; c’mon, you’ve gotta do better than that, for optics, if nothing else
- The design just feels super cheesy, with the pillows in the lounge having stupid phrases on them, like “Revenge Travel”
- The food and drink selection was rather limited; there was no fruit, cereal, pastries, etc., and there wasn’t even milk for coffee, but instead, just little containers of creamer
So talk about quite a contrast to Cathay Pacific’s ground experience. I had visited the lounge in the past, so I wasn’t totally surprised. However, it seems like some small investments could go a long way, and that lounge upkeep isn’t a priority.
Hong Kong Airlines’ A330 business class seats are okay
Hong Kong Airlines’ A330 business class consists of staggered seats, with a total of 32 seats taking up the space between the first and second set of doors. The A330’s fuselage isn’t particularly wide, so as you’d expect, these seats are definitely on the tight side, and in particular, the aisle is really narrow (my bag struggled to squeeze through).
Okay, I can’t say the cabin finishes are my favorite, but that’s obviously also inspired by the parent company, given that the colors match Hainan Airlines (the same is true of the livery — this was even an ex-Hainan plane, as you can see based on the way the airline name was painted on the livery).
I managed to get a “true” window seat, which is the ideal seating option in this configuration.
What stood out to me most is how tired and beat up the cabin felt. For example, my reading light was being held together by tape.
For a 3.5 hour flight, this was of course more than sufficient, and perfectly comfortable. After all, Cathay Pacific partly flies regionally configured planes to Japan. However, this is the same plane the airline uses for the 14-hour flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong, and I’d be much less happy with this product on that flight.
Hong Kong Airlines’ A330 business class entertainment is bad
Hong Kong Airlines has seat back monitors at each seat. While any entertainment is better than nothing, I found the selection to be really limited. We’re talking dozens of movies and TV shows, so that’s less than ideal. The airline also doesn’t offer Wi-Fi on any planes.
Again, none of this is a huge issue on a short intra-Asia route, but with the airline starting to fly A330s on longer missions, those problems become more noticeable.
Hong Kong Airlines’ A330 business class soft product is decent
I do have to say, the crew in business class on this flight were very friendly. They maybe weren’t quite to Cathay Pacific’s level, but still friendly and accommodating, so I have nothing negative to say there (well, other than them insisting on keeping the cabin dark the entire way on a daytime flight, but I digress).
In terms of amenities, each business class passenger received a pillow and blanket, plus a pair of slippers, which is nice for a flight of this length.
Breakfast was served on this flight, and menus were distributed before takeoff.
There were three breakfast options, and I chose the Chinese meal, which consisted of congee with shredded chicken, dried scallop, and mushroom, served with fruit, yogurt, and a selection from the bread basket.
While there were no espresso-based drinks, the filtered coffee was decent, and tasted even better after a glass of champagne (the airline pours Charles de Cazanove Brut Champagne). 😉
Bottom line
I’m happy I had the chance to fly with Hong Kong Airlines again, on the carrier’s only long haul aircraft type. Ultimately the biggest issue with Hong Kong Airlines is that it’s going head-to-head against Cathay Pacific, one of the world’s best airline brands. Cathay Pacific’s ground experience and inflight service are stellar, so of course by comparison, Hong Kong Airlines just doesn’t deliver the same level of experience.
I’d fly Hong Kong Airlines again if the airline had the best schedule or price, as was the case here. However, I’d avoid the airline on long haul flights (due to lack of Wi-Fi), and also would choose Cathay Pacific in a heartbeat, all else being equal.
What’s your take on Hong Kong Airlines’ A330 business class?