About a month ago, as I was leaving San Francisco to come back down to L.A., I got to see one of Cathay Pacific’s 777-300ERs painted in “Oneworld” colors, B-KQN, arriving from Hong Kong as CX870. Naturally, I put this on my “to-do” list for trip reports, but it’s only in the past week that I’ve gotten around to replicating this particular flight.
Cathay Pacific celebrates its 40th anniversary of service to San Francisco, which began with the 747-200 as a continuation of the airline’s Hong Kong-Vancouver service, which was towards the outer limits of what the aircraft could do non-stop. In the early 1990s, the airline switched to non-stop service to SFO with the 747-400, which remained on the HKG-SFO route for close to a quarter century. In fact, SFO was the 747’s last North American destination with Cathay Pacific, switching to the 777-300ER in the autumn of 2014. Since that time, the busy HKG-SFO route has been operated by a mix of 777-300ER, A350-900, and A350-1000 aircraft, with both daily frequencies currently operated by the Triple Seven. Hope y’all enjoy this one!
Server: Solo
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (Oneworld)
Origin: Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong (HKG)
Destination: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California (SFO)
Flight Number: CX870
Route: VHHH-KSFO
Seat: 18K (Business)
Time En Route: 12 Hours 47 Minutes
After spending several hours watching aircraft come and go from HKG, it’s time to board our aircraft at Gate 41 for the long flight across the Pacific to San Francisco. We’re flying on one of Cathay Pacific’s five 777-300ERs painted in “Oneworld” colors, B-KQN. While it’s not B-KQI, the one we’ve usually flown on, it’s another Oneworld-liveried aircraft to check off as having flown on.
We’ve go a relatively quick taxi to the runway today, although we’re behind a couple of CX A330s. B-KQN has a relatively uncommon configuration of 40J/32W/296M for a total of 368 seats. Only nine airframes in the fleet have it at the moment, and all 77K-configured aircraft are due to receive the new Aria cabins in the coming years. We’re definitely thrilled to have gotten a flight in this cabin for what may be the only time we ever do.
We’ve got a characteristically loud, high-thrust GE90-115B takeoff this afternoon as we pass by the HAECO hangars, where a few Cathay Pacific 777s are undergoing various degrees of maintenance. Some are merely getting routine check-ups, while others are parked on the ramp for months as they await their mid-life heavy checks. There’s one A350-1000 in the bunch doing its best “They still don’t know I’m not a 777” and a 747-400ERF missing the No. 3 engine in the mix, too. Departing parallel with us from Runway 25C in the background is an EVA Air 787-9 headed northeast for the short hop across the Taiwan Strait to Taipei as BR868.
Listening to the GE90s serenade us at climb thrust as we leave Hong Kong. The 77K, like the non-Aria 77A, is equipped with the Safran Cirrus II lie-flat seat in business class. Although they are no longer as cutting-edge as they once were, the Cirrus II still remains one of our all-time favorite business class seats, with an excellent mix of space and comfort. Additionally, Cathay Pacific can be counted on to deliver a wonderful soft product in business, contributing to its consistent ranking as one of the world’s best airlines.
Dinner Is served northeast of Japan. Tonight, we’re having delicious-looking braised beef in Chu Hao sauce. Cathay Pacific’s in-flight catering is some of the best in the business, consistently hitting it out of the park with every meal we’ve had with them relative to our cabin. We can’t think of a better way to cross the Pacific while watching TV on the in-flight entertainment system located in the back of the seat in front of us.
Over the Eastern Pacific a few hours out from our destination. Although San Francisco International Airport has some pretty scenic approaches, it unfortunately looks like it’s going to be clouded over on the way in. Sleeping in our Cirrus II seat was predictably comfortable and easy, with no disturbances until breakfast time. Breakfast for us was fresh fruit and yogurt, of which the former seemed exceptionally tasteful, a rare thing to get with fresh fruit on an airline.
The rumbling of the landing gear lowering fills the cabin as we make our final approach over San Francisco Bay and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. It’s a pretty overcast day in the Bay, but it looks like the worst of the clouds cover is starting to dissipate. We’re only a moment from arriving at SFO.
Landing at a cloudy SFO on Runway 28R. We had a masterfully-flown final approach and touchdown, with a firm deceleration once the revers opened. Hopefully taxiing to our gate doesn’t take too long, as everything is using 28L and 28R for departures and arrivals.
Taxiing by Terminal 2, which is packed with Delta jets, as usual. Besides the narrowbody metal, there’s a couple of 767-300ERs that arrived earlier from Atlanta and New York. We’ve actually been making good time on our taxi, which is something of a surprise.
Looking at our aircraft at Gate A10. Once again, Cathay Pacific has delivered an excellent business class experience and we got to fly on a Oneworld-liveried aircraft other than B-KQI. It was definitely a good idea to return from Milan the long way with CX and we’re already planning our next trip with them!
