The unlikely meal you can only have on this Cathay Pacific flight
Flight Review: Cathay Pacific; from Hong Kong to Sydney
Flight Review: Cathay Pacific, flight CX101, Hong Kong to Sydney
Frequency and duration: Daily; 8 hours and 55 minutes
Class and price: Business. Return flights between Sydney and Hong Kong from about $6100
After four nights in Vietnam, I'm flying home on Hong Kong's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific, an airline I last flew in 2019, just before China's big crackdown in the territory. I'm in business class on the Boeing 777-300ER, so I'm confident I'll get to sleep on this red-eye flight.
CHECKING IN: We began our journey in Da Nang, Vietnam, where our baggage at the Cathay-owned budget Hong Kong Express Airways' counter was checked in all the way to Sydney. Seamless. After a two-hour layover in Hong Kong, we board about 11.20pm
THE FLIGHT: After a long wait at the gate we're finally in the air about 12.25am, 30 minutes behind schedule, which has given me plenty of time for a self-guided tour of the storage nooks and control panels of my business-class seat. I crank my lie-flat bed into service about 2.15am and manage four hours sleep, with no need to snuggle under the duvet in the warm cabin. The pilots make good time and despite our late departure, we arrive in Sydney 30 minutes early.
THE CLASS: I'm in centre-aisle seat 22G in a 40-seat business cabin with a 1-2-1 configuration and a layout that nails privacy. The amenities kit from luxury English brand Bamford includes botanic lip balm, face mist and hand and body lotion, and a suggested three-step ritual to make the most of them. Adding to the luxe: the cotton bedlinen has a 400 thread count. Check-in allowance for business is very generous - two 32kg suitcases a passenger - but carry-on is restricted to two items weighing 10kg in total.
FOOD AND DRINKS: I've never seen a classic beef burger on an inflight menu, so out of curiosity I order it - a decision that I later realise bypasses other dishes (a shredded chicken noodle soup and a steamed halibut with chorizo sauce) that are collaborations with Michelin-starred Hong Kong eateries. D'oh! I blame this culinary misstep (although I do enjoy the burger) on the hour and the altitude, and make up for it with a Chinese breakfast - dried scallop congee with pork and century egg, and dim sum on the side. The concise drinks menu includes classic cocktails, French champagne and a Barossa Valley shiraz.
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ENTERTAINMENT: You can really binge your way through some catch-up TV viewing here, with six seasons of Game of Thrones and four seasons of True Detective on HBO Max alone. There is some thoughtful curation of the vast selection of movies into categories such as "women directors" and "classics retold" and folks, if you're a Zac Efron fan, you are sorted. The touch screen on my 15.4 inch (39cm) television is pretty much unresponsive so I resort to the remote-control handset, and manage a viewing of Mean Girls before bedtime.
THE SERVICE: Polite. precise and efficient - dinnertime service especially is fast, given the late hour - although I suspect a lack of communication when I pre-order breakfast straight after dinner on a hotel-style form, only to be asked twice more come the bleary-eyed morning what I'd like for breakfast.
IN A NUTSHELL: Not long after my flight, Cathay Pacific wins the SkyTrax accolade of being the world's fifth-best business-class airline (and the world's cleanest airline). Given my experience, I am not surprised.
The writer was upgraded courtesy of Cathay Pacific.
My all-time favourite destination is … Italy. A three-week family holiday, from Rome to Venice via Tuscany and the Cinque Terre, was a pinch-ourselves dream come true, every single day.
Next on my bucket list is … South America - in particular Argentina, Peru and Colombia. I’d love to explore them all, the capital cities and beyond.
My top travel tip is … Make regular plans to travel and have adventures - however near or far from home - with the people you love most.
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