First flight of 2026 is officially in! We’re continuing our trip around the Pacific via one of Cathay Pacific’s seasonal routes, between Cairns and the airline’s base in Hong Kong. As an aside, Cairns is the only Australian destination for Cathay Pacific that isn’t a state capital, and the only Australian destination that sees the A330-300 these days. Of course, this relatively unique opportunity means we’re going from CNS to HKG instead of flying south on Qantas or QantasLink to Brisbane, Melbourne, or Sydney and either flying to Hong Kong from there or going back to the States directly.
Server: Solo
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Origin: Cairns Airport, Aeroglen, Australia (CNS)
Destination: Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong (HKG)
Flight Number: CX146
Route: YBCS-VHHH
Seat: 17A (Business)
Time En Route: 7 Hours 12 Minutes
Waiting to board our flight at Gate 4 after a warm morning rain. Northern Queensland this time of year is subjects to tropical drizzles, showers, downpours, and the occasional cyclone. Fortunately, the weather is a the decidedly benign end of that continuum today.
Taxiing to Runway 15 for takeoff. Looking out the window, it seems almost surreal to be aboard a Cathay Pacific jet at such a small airport, where very little traffic gets above A321 size. Though Singapore Airlines has used its medium-haul-configured A350-900s in the past to augment the 737 MAX 8s it sends to CNS, Cathay Pacific is the only airline to serve this Australian airport exclusively with widebody aircraft.
Starting our takeoff roll, with condensation in the mouth of the Trent 700s. Underscoring how tight a fit some of Cairns’s facilities are, we had to backtaxi and turn around in order to line up on Runway 15, a rare event for a widebody. Nevertheless, the flight crew accomplished this with customary Cathay Pacific aplomb, and we’re rolling down the runway to get airborne.
Loud Trent 700 takeoff from Cairns, with a great view afforded by our Safran Cirrus II seat up front in business class
Cairns Airport is visible below us as we climb out of the area. We’re settling back into the Cirrus II for the 7 hour and 15 minute flight to Hong Kong.
Cruising at 38,000 feet over West Papua. Service so far has been excellent, the IFE selection is likewise, and the seat itself is extremely comfortable. Couldn’t ask for a better way to get to Hong Kong from Cairns.
40,000 feet over Cebu City
Initial descent over the South China Sea. While we’ve greatly enjoyed flying with Cathay Pacific today, it, like all good things, is coming to an end.
Landing on Runway 25R in Hong Kong shortly before the Golden Hour. Fantastically smooth landing from our flight crew today, since the wheels barely kissed the runway when we touched down.
Deplaned at Terminal 1 with a great view of Hong Kong Tower behind us. It was great flying on the A330 and we’ll definitely be doing some more trips on this member of the Cathay Pacific fleet to some of the airline’s more out-of-the-way destinations in the future.
Cairns also sees widebody service to Osaka, Tokyo Narita on the B788 and Singapore on the A359.