Though a relative latecomer to the American transpacific market, only flying to the United States from 1986 onwards, Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific has solidified itself as a major player in connecting the United States with the Far East. Its first U.S. destination was San Francisco, a natural choice due to its status as the financial nexus of the West Coast and large Chinese-American population, via Vancouver, which it had been serving since 1983 with the 747-200. In 1998, using the 747-400, non-stop service to Hong Kong was inaugurated, due to the most prolific variant of the 747 having the range to fly between HKG and SFO without a tech stop or payload restrictions in both directions. 16 years later in 2014, the guard changed again with the last Cathay Pacific 747 service to the United States, being completely replaced by the 777-300ER, which continues to serve SFO, LAX, and JFK, augmented by the A350-900 and A350-1000. Today, we’re on the shorter of the two members of Airbus’s flagship widebody airliner for a long journey across the Pacific Ocean.
Server: Solo
Airline: Cathay Pacific
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Origin: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California (SFO)
Destination: Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong (HKG)
Flight Number: CX879
Route: KSFO-VHHH
Seat: 65K (Economy)
Time En Route: 15 Hours 44 Minutes
Walking down to our aircraft, Cathay’s first A350-900, registered as B-LRA, at Gate A5. Cathay Pacific currently flies between Hong Kong and San Francisco twice a day, with a third flight (CX893) operating on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Of the daily flights, the afternoon departure, our flight, is operated by an A350-900 while the evening one is operated by a 777-300ER. This is a switch from a couple years ago, when the afternoon flight was the Bigfoot and the evening one was the Raccoon.
Taxiing behind Runways 01L and 01R as a United 777-300ER departs from the latter for Honolulu after a 2-hour delay as UA1175. Cathay Pacific’s standard of excellence extends to the economy class seating on the A350, which is equal to or better than premium economy on all but a few other airlines.
Taking off from Runway 28R. Even with the FAA-mandated flight reductions, the F and G Piers are still almost full at the moment.
Turning southwest over Pacifica Esplanade Beach as we leave the coast. Looks like there’s a few surfers out there today.
Leveled off at our initial cruising altitude of 34,000 feet. We’ve ordered a beef hamburger with Monterey Jack cheese, one of CX’s many international menu options, for oir lunch while we watching the new Jurassic World: Rebirth.
Several hours later and 4,000 feet higher, we’re closing in on the halfway point in our journey. As usual, one of the tests of a seat’s comfort is how easily it can be slept in. Due to the economy class seats not being lie-flat ones, we’ve brought a neck pillow for catching some Zs. Fortunately, the swat behind us was unoccupied, allowing for us to recline it a reasonable amount.
We’ve started our final descent into the hills and mountains surrounding Hong Kong. Sleeping was no trouble at all, even though we hit a spot of turbulence an hour east of Taiwan.
Landing at Chek Lap Kok on Runway 25C with Hong Kong Tower to the left
Taxiing to Terminal 1
Got a closer view of the ATC tower once we’ve deplaned before going to get our bags and head to our hotel for a 2-day layover. Economy on the CX A350-900 was excellent and it’s definitely something we’ll be revisiting in the future.