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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 Lunar 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.
In this post:
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:
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 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 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.
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). 😉
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?
It is sad to see how Hong Kong Airlines evolves after Covid. Ultimately I don’t understand why it is still in existence because the airline has no vision on their future. They are just basically hanging on a thread. Their F/As are demoralized and they have zero bonus in 2025. The F/As are all just using the HX as a springboard to move to other carriers, who pay more. Their airplanes are all filled with…
It is sad to see how Hong Kong Airlines evolves after Covid. Ultimately I don’t understand why it is still in existence because the airline has no vision on their future. They are just basically hanging on a thread. Their F/As are demoralized and they have zero bonus in 2025. The F/As are all just using the HX as a springboard to move to other carriers, who pay more. Their airplanes are all filled with all kind of defects. Their narrowbody fleet is even worse because they have a mix of leased A320s and A321s. Despite they claim on bringing back hot meals in economy, some of these A320s & A321s do not have oven, so the F/As have to explain to passengers why they get cold breads and refreshment packs on these flights.
They were rumored to get some Dreamliners last year, and even start looking for pilots, but then they discover that they can’t afford them or the numbers don’t quite work. So they stick with an eclectic mix of second A330s. Then they keep on going back and forth with the amounts of A330s that they need for their Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) and Vancouver flights. They barely have enough A330s to cover all these long haul flights and high capacity flights to Osaka Kansai and Tokyo Narita.
I am just glad that you have a working personal entertainment system, and for awhile, they have to turn off their PTVs because they can’t afford the license fee. On a side note, they have a subfleet of A330s with the 1-2-1 suites.
As of this point, I actually think Hong Kong Airlines has passed the point that they can have a future. They need new planes desperately. The lounge is sad because they don’t have capital to revamp it or even make the necessary repairs. If they can’t find an investor, they should just shut it down in a graceful way, or just merge with Greater Bay Airlines, or sell their assets to Greater Bay Airlines, which seems to have access to capitals.
Hong Kong Airlines seemed to be promising at one point pre-Covid with the A350s, but now it seems to be dragging along without any future visions. Hong Kong is a tough market since it is expensive and we don’t have “domestic” flights. I just don’t know if it is possible to have viable second airline that can fully challenge CX on all markets. Greater Bay Airlines may be able to eke out a niche for a hybrid LCC product but not sure if they want to repeat Hong Kong Airlines’ mistakes and go long haul.
Ben, maybe you can give Greater Bay Airlines’ premium economy product a try next time!
You wrote … “We’re talking dozens of movies and TV shows, so that’s less than ideal.” What’s wrong with that? It’s not as if there’s only one, two or three programs.
What are your thoughts on the pillows in Qatar Airways business class, with the tacky inspirational quotes and/or destination cities? I’ve always found this to be extremely cheesy too, and very off-brand.
“Revenge Travel” is a post-Covid term used primarily in China. The idea was that you show revenge against the virus that blocked travel by splurging now. The term evolved from the term ‘revenge spending’ used in the 1980s for consumer behaviour after the cultural revolution. That the cushion is still in the lounge feels like an indicator that HKA’s hopes didn’t fully materialize.
The hard product is much much better than Cathy’s regional business class which is abysmal .
Glad you survived! Can’t wait for your reviews in Japan… Irasshaimase!
Fwiw, HKG is home to many of the top Priority Pass lounges, while it’s true that HKA does operate this lounge, and it’s not very strong.
From a holistic perspective, you have the options to choose a variety of superior lounges at HKG, so I wouldn’t overly penalize them in that regard.
@Ben, speaking just of the physical seat/space, how much worse/tighter can HX be when LX and EI use 5-across Vantage staggered seats on their long-haul A330s/A340s.
Cheers from down the street. Enjoy the PHT breakfast. Salmon with caviar and raspberry yogurt are great.
A product even worse than Delta! The resident loon will be happy (Wacky Tim “Dopey” Dunn).
Timcel only respawns to praise DL so you won’t see him here
“Chinese New Year*…. 1..2..3..Cue the Asian cultural war
You mean “3..2..1..”. Hehehe.
Fake-1990, I’d use ‘Bah!’ more so-than ‘hehehe’ but nice riff on countdown nuance
Lunar new year is a term mainly used by US, Canada, Australia and the UN, it’s not really a thing in Asia. Vietnam and South Korea have their own names (Tết / Seollal). In Southeast Asian nations that celebrate the holiday, “Chinese New Year” is common (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia).
Looks good to me.
Their seats are way better than the recliners you would get on Cathay that’s for sure.
And for bad IFE systems, I just have the map on. I’m content.
Well, Hong Kong Airlines has their own recliners on their A320s, at which point I’d rather be on a middle seat in Cathay J with WiFi and a much better ground experience.
I’m liking the space and privacy in this seat. Good room for shoulders and a very decent footwell. I don’t want much more (certainly not a gimmicky door). Compare this with AA from LAX to Chicago (similar duration)… truly night and day experiences. FWIW I like the cabin dark/dimmed at all times…there’s a light overhead if you need it.
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@Ben, speaking just of the physical seat/space, how much worse/tighter can HX be when LX and EI use 5-across Vantage staggered seats on their long-haul A330s/A340s.
Well, Hong Kong Airlines has their own recliners on their A320s, at which point I'd rather be on a middle seat in Cathay J with WiFi and a much better ground experience.
A product even worse than Delta! The resident loon will be happy (Wacky Tim "Dopey" Dunn).
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