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The Time We Flew on a Dragon...Air Flight

Where: China
February 7, 2012 at 5:20 PM | by | Comment (1)

Yesterday, we showed you around the Dragonair lounge at Hong Kong International. Now today, we're taking you on board with us!

Being major travel geeks, we took a second before we boarded our flight on Dragonair from Hong Kong to Beijing to soak in what was happening--we were about to fly on an airline called Dragonair. And we weren't at a Harry Potter theme park. Win!

Of course, onboard things weren't nearly as exciting. Business class sports some very well-kept but still rather aged seats. We had a little flashback to the 90s sitting in these chairs.

But as with so many Asian airlines, the experience was completely sublime compared to American domestic carriers. The boarding process from start to finish was entirely calm. Service was friendly and incredibly helpful. They even offer three different types of vegetarian fare (Asian, Indian and Western but you still have to order pre-flight.)

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Inside Dragonair's G16 Lounge at Hong Kong International

February 6, 2012 at 4:20 PM | by | Comment (1)

We've given you a glorious tour of the unbelievable Cathay Pacific airport lounges at the Hong Kong International Airport from The Wing to The Pier but today we're taking you inside the less-exciting G16 Lounge of Dragonair, a regional carrier of Cathay Pacific.

Located at, as its name indicates, Gate 16, the lounge overlooks the gate area up on high—sort of like a Loft Lounge. The seating areas are very traditional (no Solus pods here) although plentiful. The self-service refreshment counter features plenty of drinks and finger snacks (both Western and Asian, alcoholic and non) as well as coffee and cappuccino.

There's also a kitchen with an on-site chef to prepare Hong Kong specialties like fishball noodles. (We were hoping for some Dan dan noodles like the ones we ate at SFO but alas, we were out of luck.)

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New Seats for Everybody! Cathay Pacific Announces Premium Economy and More

December 12, 2011 at 7:30 AM | by | Comments (0)


The current Economy Class seatbacks are fixed, with remote controlled entertainment

OMG. Fun news! We knew is was coming, but not the scope: Cathay Pacific has announced that not only will they be introducing a Premium Economy class on long-haul flights in early 2012, but that Economy will be revamped as well.

As veterans of the 18-hour direct flights from New York-Hong Kong, we can tell you that this is a huge deal. Already Cathay is known as one of the leaders as far as passenger service and in-flight amenities and it was only one year ago that they showed off their new business class seats.

Sadly there aren't any renderings of the new Premium Economy or Economy seats yet, but there are specifics. Let's break it down:

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Get Your Butt to Tokyo for This Fall's Very First Flights of ANA's Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Where: Tokyo, Japan
August 24, 2011 at 8:15 AM | by | Comments (0)

DRUMROLL PLEASE! The first destination to get regular, scheduled service on the very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be...Okayama, Japan! Why Okayama? Well, the airline with the pleasure of introducing the 787 to the traveling public is Japanese airline ANA, and after a few fun flights to show off the shiny new plane, she'll be put into domestic service between Tokyo-Haneda and Okayama.

Okay so this is literally yesterday's news, but we got a little wrapped up in the East Coast Earthquake drama, so chillax.

Finally, some dates: the very first scheduled flight will happen on November 1, to be immediately followed by the start of Tokyo-Haneda to Hiroshima service on the 787. Want to go international? You've got to wait a tad bit longer, but Tokyo-Haneda to Beijing begins as soon as December, with Tokyo-Haneda to Frankfurt kicking off the long-haul routes in January, 2012.

Here's the official schedule, straight from ANA:

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Inside and All Around CX City: Cathay Pacific's World Headquarters

May 20, 2011 at 10:37 AM | by | Comments (0)

Have you ever stood in the modern glass atrium of the headquarters of one of the world's top airlines? It's an impressive experience, to say the least, as it was for us recently when we spent an afternoon touring CX CIty, aka the home of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific just outside of Chek Lap Kok Airport (HKG) on Lantau Island.

On the outside, CX City (or Cathay City, whichever), is a quiet and seemingly calm business block. Step inside, however, and you're immediately engulfed in the energy of a company that's got places to go and airplanes to fly. Flight attendants in their sharp red skirt suits powerwalk past, desk workers grab a candy bar from the atrium shop before going back to tweaking graphic design on an in-flight meal napkin, and pilots grab a post-flight beer in the pub.

It's an electric place, and the international ease is obvious; these people you see now could be in the sky over the Arctic in several hours, serving ramen noodles to anxious passengers on their flight long-haul. Can you tell we were kind of in heaven?

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Seoul's Incheon Airport Once Again Beats Every Other Airport in the World

February 18, 2011 at 9:22 AM | by | Comments (0)


A shot inside Seoul's Incheon Airport

It feels as though there is always a new list of airport rankings that comes out, giving top marks to the spick-and-span airports of Asia while America's don't even merit Top 20. Well, there is another ranking list out, and it does stick to this, except that US airports do get recognized in categories like "Best Airport 15-25 million passengers," where BWI takes first place. The rankings have been released by the Airports Council International, which compiles their data on airport service annually thanks to a passenger survey of 300,000 customers from 153 airports, with criteria including "cleanliness, check-in efficiency, comfortable waiting areas and clear signage."

Here are the other big winners this year:

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Inside Cathay Pacific's The Cabin Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport

Where: Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
December 24, 2010 at 1:47 PM | by | Comments (0)


Our lust for the wonders of airport lounges is far from a secret. Thus, during our recent trip to Hong Kong, we spent the time right before a 15-hour flight not chilling with a book and a tea, but running all around the ginormous terminal, hitting all three of the Cathay Pacific Business Class lounges.

Finally, after taking you inside both The Wing and The Pier, we're now inside The Cabin the newest and shiniest of the lounges, as it only just opened in fall 2010. We shot all of the pictures either right as the lounges were closing or opening, so just know that you'll rarely ever see them this empty.

Right Now: Inside The Cabin lounge at HKG.

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Inside Cathay Pacific's The Pier Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport

Where: Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
December 24, 2010 at 9:05 AM | by | Comments (0)


One of the many sitting areas in the lounge

Our lust for the wonders of airport lounges is far from a secret. Thus, during our recent trip to Hong Kong, we spent the time right before a 15-hour flight not chilling with a book and a tea, but running all around the ginormous terminal, hitting all three of the Cathay Pacific Business Class lounges.

Finishing up today, we'll show you all we discovered in Cathay's The Wing, The Pier, and finally—the newest and shiniest—The Cabin. We shot all of the pictures either right as the lounges were closing or opening, so just know that you'll rarely ever see them this empty.

Right Now: Inside The Pier lounge at HKG.

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Inside Cathay Pacific's The Wing Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport

December 23, 2010 at 9:45 AM | by | Comments (0)


The lounge entrance

Our lust for the wonders of airport lounges is far from a secret. Thus, during our recent trip to Hong Kong, we spent the time right before a 15-hour flight not chilling with a book and a tea, but running all around the ginormous terminal, hitting all three of the Cathay Pacific Business Class lounges.

Over the next couple days, while everyone endures the cramped and frantic holiday travel season, we'll show you all we discovered in Cathay's The Wing, The Pier, and finally—the newest and shiniest—The Cabin. We shot all of the pictures either right as the lounges were closing or opening, so just know that you'll rarely ever see them this empty.

Right now: Inside The Wing lounge at HKG.

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Peekaboo, A380. We See You.

Where: Hong Kong
December 17, 2010 at 3:15 PM | by | Comments (0)

The news of the Superjumbo has been all over the place the past few weeks, starting with the Qantas "uncontained engine failure" through to the grounding of other A380s, followed by their fixing and even by Lufthansa's announcement that they'd be flying one to New York sooner rather than later. If the A380 isn't careful, it could become something of a legend, but then who are we kidding? It already is.

While landing at Hong Kong International last week, you'd have thought that our plane—a Cathay Pacific 777 was going to tip over with all the passengers who leaned to peer out the window at the Singapore Airlines A380 a few runways over. Someone (not us) had remarked aloud that the superjumbo was over there, and the cameras came out.

Note that the Kingfisher Airlines plane on the right is way, way closer to us than the A380, so you have some idea of the hulking size of the latter. Have you spotted an A380? Share where and any picture links in the comments!

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Sharp, Subtly Sexy, and Red All Over: Cathay Pacific's New Flight Attendant Uniforms

December 8, 2010 at 9:27 AM | by | Comments (0)

How many airlines can you name whose flight attendants wear red uniforms? Probably more than you can count on one hand, right? Red—which stands for desire, luck, happiness, health and extroversion—is more than a popular, strong color choice, so it shouldn't be a surprise then that Cathay Pacific stuck with it for their new collection of uniforms, unveiled last night, along with the redesigned biz class seats, in Hong Kong.

We were there of course, because we're not about to turn down a chance to check out in-flight fashion from the moment it debuts. The new uniforms—which are for both male and female crew, from flight attendants on up to managers (but not pilots)—are designed by Hong Kong-born and bred Eddie Lau. His specialties lie more in the couture department, but he's been doing the Cathay uniforms since 1999, so hopefully he's got the whole fire retardant, high performance thing down as well.

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First Photos of Cathay Pacific's New Business Class Seats, Perfect for Sleeping 'In Any Position'

December 7, 2010 at 12:17 PM | by | Comments (2)

And we're back, live from Hong Kong, to reveal the big news that had Cathay Pacific inviting over 3,000 of their most frequent flyers to come check out. Many announcements dropped only a couple hours ago, the most important of which is the debut of newer, wider, fancier business class seats.

We've been rolling through our photos like gangbusters, after posting the very first images online of the new seats via Twitter, and now—without further ado—here are Cathay's new biz seats with lie-flat beds, with the space to allow "passengers to sleep in any position."

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