Hong Kong International Airport is a comfortable place to spend a three hour layover with comfortable seating and power ports for charging your devices, water refill stations, complimentary internet kiosks and clean bathrooms.
The floor to ceiling windows are also a great for plane spotting and watching the sunrise.
Boarding was from the 500-series gates so that meant a bus ride out to the waiting A321. I was looking forward to my first flight on this aircraft type, which is an elongated version of the standard A320 that JetStar flies in Australia.
In this post:
Cathay Dragon Economy Class Review KA 5520
Cathay Dragon 5220
Hong Kong (HKG) – Da Nang (DAD)
Saturday, December 14
Depart: 08:00AM
Arrive: 09:00AM
Duration: 2hr
Aircraft: Airbus A321 (321)
Seat: 22K (Economy Class)
From the bus, it was up the stairs to board through Door 1L, where the cabin crew were on hand to check boarding passes and greet passengers.
I had selected Seat 22K in the first row of Economy Class since the bulkhead has extra legroom. No extra fee applies to selecting seats in Row 22 so they are a good option if available.
I assume this aircraft is sometimes deployed on longer routes as there are personal inflight entertainment (IFE) screens for each seat.
As you can see the legroom from Seat 22K is generous and there is no risk of seat in front of you reclining.
Boarding was orderly and the plane departed almost full, which is a good sign for Cathay Pacific given the issues in Hong Kong this year. There was a long taxi out to the end of the runway where a military helicopter was coming in to land in parallel as we began our takeoff roll.
There were some nice views of Hong Kong as we climbed out, but nothing quite as spectacular as the scenic tour we got in October.
Cathay Dragon Economy Class Breakfast
Once the seatbelt signs were turned off, the cabin crew began the breakfast service. The offering was seafood noodles or omelette so I went with the former.
It was a good hot meal and the seafood noodles were flavoursome and a reasonable portion.
Once everyone had their meals, the cabin crew passed through the cabin offering jasmine tea or coffee. The jasmine tea was a nice touch and went well with the noodles.
By the time our trays were collected we were about to commence our descent into a cloudy Danang.
Cathay Dragon Economy Class Summary
Our flight from Hong Kong to Danang was everything one can ask for in Economy. The seats were comfortable, a quality hot meal was served and we arrived on time.
With so many low cost carriers operating in Asia where every last amenity is at an additional charge it is refreshing and almost luxurious to fly with a full service carrier, even in Economy.
Introduction – The Cathay Pacific Encore Trip
Review: American Express Lounge Sydney
Review: Cathay Pacific Economy Class 77W
Review: Cathay Dragon Economy Class A321
Review: Cathay Dragon Business Class A320
Review: The Wing First Class Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific First Class 77W
Review: Fairfield Inn Manhattan Financial District
Review: Jean Georges New York
Review: Olmsted Brooklyn
New York Winter Activities
Review: AA Flagship Lounge & Flagship First Dining JFK
Review: Cathay Pacific First Class New York – Hong Kong
Review: Mira Moon Hong Kong
Review: The Wing Business Class Lounge
Review: Qantas Hong Kong Lounge
Review: Qantas Business Class A380 (New Business Suite)
Summary – Highlights & Points Earned
