After the departure of South African Airways on the route, the Hong Kong-Johannesburg service by Cathay Pacific has become a crucial connection between Asia and Southern Africa, and one the airline dominates with market-leading service and an intuitive business class product, discovers Nick Walton on a recent flight.

Check-in/The Lounge

I initially checked in for my flight using the Cathay Pacific app, which is among my favourite airline apps due to its intuitive design and ease of use. Once I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport, I checked in my luggage, made my way through security, and took the transit train down the concourse to reach the airline’s The Pier lounge, which was conveniently located beside my departing gate, Gate 66.

Unfortunately, no sooner had I sat down with a glass of wine and a bite to eat at what I consider to be Cathay’s sexiest lounge at HKIA, the reception staff announced over the intercom that the departing gate had been changed to Gate 4, at the other end of the airport! Wanting to be close to my departure gate, I made my way to the nearby The Wing lounge, which was its typically crowded, chaotic self, with one lone bartender serving crowds of people, surly reception staff, and almost every seat in the joint taken. I eventually found a spot at the end of the long bar that overlooks the apron and pined for The Pier over a glass of wine. Before long the flight was called and, with the move of lounges, I was only steps from the gate.

The Pier

Boarding

Boarding onto the three-class 777-300ER was also a very busy process, despite clear line allocations for business class and Marco Polo Club members, as the flight was full, mainly with South African rugby supporters headed back from Japan. I quickly found my seat, 23D, in the larger of the aircraft’s two business class cabins and settled in for the 13-hour flight south.

The Seat

The 777 Cathay operates on the Johannesburg route featured 40 business class seats, as well as 32 19.5-inch-wide premium economy class seats and 268 standard economy class seats, each at 18.5-inches wide.

I’m a huge fan of Cathay’s Cirrus reverse herringbone business class seat; spacious, intelligent and private, the seat trumps almost every other out there and those it doesn’t are pretty much based on the Cirrus seat anyway. The seat is a space in which travellers can really make the most of their flight; there’s a large tray for dining and working, easy to reach AC and USB jacks, intuitive controls for the seat position and entertainment system, and plenty of storage space for laptops and shoes in compartments at the sides, and smaller items in the compartment at shoulder height. Personal reading lamps ensure you don’t disturb your fellow passengers and ample space on the armrest means you’re not always having to readjust everything as you transition from dining to work to sleep.

READ: Five Essential Jet Lag Cures

At my seat, a mattress topper, duvet, and pillow were already supplied, secured in a zipped bag, as part of the airline’s new collaboration with Bamford, a supplier of luxury manchester. A bottle of mineral water and a signature amenity kit were also stored away in the shoulder-height compartment, along with a pair of headphones, though like many travellers these days, I opt to bring my own, Bose QuietComfort 35 IIs, which are easily plugged into a jack within the compartment.

The seat is also brilliant on these long-haul flights because of its comfort as a bed. For passengers looking to get the most sleep possible on their flight – a major reason for travellers forking out for business class – the Zodiac Aerospace-made seat is truly comfortable and supportive, and when matched with the new linens from Bamford, ensures business travellers have a fighting chance to avoid jetlag altogether given the late departure and the early arrival time in South Africa.

Soon after sitting down, a surprisingly upbeat crew (it’s almost midnight remember) served glasses of water, juice and Billecart-Salmon Brut champagne, as well as piping hot towels. An older, more seasoned crew, they made service in the very full cabin look easy, and very quickly we were watching the safety video as the plane taxied through the darkness for our 1.10 am departure slot.

We took off and turn west, towards Thailand, and soon after our departure, the crew begin a quiet and efficient dinner service, although many passengers opted to skip the meal and instead made the most of the sleep time.

Dining

Despite flying all the time, it still takes me a little while to relax enough on planes to be able to sleep, so I decided to have a bite and watch a movie. Like many of the passengers around me, I fill in the pre-order breakfast form, which is a great strategy as it means I’m only woken from my slumber when breakfast is ready or can advise crew not to wake me at all.

As I had two more flights following my arrival in Johannesburg, I opted for the cooked breakfast, with a cheese omelet, Dingley deli pork sausages, oven-dried cherry tomatoes, and plenty of black illy coffee. An express breakfast option is also a smart idea for travellers who just wanted a pick-me-up before landing.

Dinner began with the customary drinks service and, looking for something light and refreshing, I went with the newly relaunched Betsy Beer 2.0, a craft beer brewed specially for the airline by a local Hong Kong brewery. The beer was specifically designed to be enjoyed at altitude and proved quite popular on my flight, with several other passengers also ordering it before their meal.

READ: CX & Black Sheep Introduce New Economy Class Menus

Because of the late hour, the meal skipped the entrée and went straight into mains, with a choice of steamed black cod with a preserved Chinese olives and mandarin peel sauce, choy sum and steamed jasmine rice; a grilled beef tenderloin with roasted artichoke heart, oven-dried tomato, olives, soft polenta and a thyme jus; and the airline’s acclaimed beef burger, with Monterey Jack cheese, bacon, pickled onion and zucchini, on a toasted brioche bun, with chunky fries on the side. I’m a fan of the burger – it’s such a great departure from conventional airline food, with a big wedge of crispy lettuce and the zesty notes of the relish, and it hasn’t let me down yet, especially when paired with bold and slightly spicy Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block red from South Africa (when in Rome after all).

For passengers looking for something lighter, the menu, which included an interview with Hong Kong restauranter Alan Lo, a story on the cod dish’s traditional roots, and restaurant suggestions for New York, Barcelona and Brisbane, offered a sweet potato soup garnished with sour cream and garlic croutons; a warm bean salad with roasted fennel, Romarco and ricotta salsa; and for those looking for a sweeter touch, a cheese plate with Steinerberger, Camembert, Le Pere and rosemary paste; or chilled pomelo with sago pearls in mango and coconut milk. The soup, salad and dessert were also options throughout the flight for passengers who got peckish after their nap.

Entertainment

We’ve spoken about CX’s recent revamp of its entertainment system and while the movie choices are a little eclectic and the touchscreen sensitivity is a little dulled on these older 777s, there’s no doubt that the StudioCX system has something for everyone. I managed to stay awake long enough to watch John Wick rain havoc on his enemies before setting the seat into bed mode, laying out the mattress topper, and promptly falling asleep somewhere over Sri Lanka.

Service

These red eye flights are far harder on the crew than they are on passengers, especially those in the comfort of business class, where sleep it all but assured. The cabin attendants were all seasoned pros and regularly patrolled the cabin, topping up drinks, handing out bottles of water right up until landing, and generally ensuring all passengers felt welcomed and cared for, with a senior crew member individually thanking passengers for travelling with them as we approached Johannesburg. Service has clearly become a focus of the airline once again, or at least that’s the overall impression we’ve been getting from Cathay Pacific over the past 6 month’s eight long haul flights.

My only niggle – and it’s not a crew thing – is that CX cabins tend to be very warm, especially on full flights like this one, making sleep harder than it has to be (the duvet never even came out of the zipped bag) and a think a plain sheet might be an option the airline might like to discuss with Bamford.

Summary

Soon we were skimming over the brown and yellow patchwork of rural South Africa, landing in the capital city’s O. R. Tambo International Airport 10 minutes ahead of schedule after a very pleasant journey with what I still consider to be Asia’s leading airline.

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong to Johannesburg in Business Class from US$6,119 per person.

Note: The Author travelled on an upgraded economy class ticket with the airline’s knowledge. 

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