Travelling the World in Style with Cathay Pacific
Air travel was originally a luxurious experience, but over the years it lost its sparkling allure as it became commonplace. Cathay Pacific has rectified this by anticipating and providing everything a traveller could need from the airport to the destination. Whether you are flying on business or for pleasure, Cathay Pacific business class has it all.
The Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific will celebrate an impressive 70 years in the air in 2016, a remarkable achievement for any business. Currently operating more than 150 aircraft to almost 190 destinations around the world, Cathay Pacific is renowned for its smooth service.
Business has developed steadily; 18 years after it was founded, the airline celebrated flying its 1 millionth passenger; nine years later, in 1973, it was carrying 1 million passengers a year — a figure that now, in 2015, is exceeded every month.
This phenomenal achievement has been marked with continued attention to detail, ensuring that the fleet stays young, service is exemplary and advantage is taken of business opportunities.
Passengers on any airline have the same interests — a comfortable flight so they can arrive at their destination alert and fresh. Cathay Pacific has carefully studied what exactly this entails, analyzing and striving to anticipate passenger needs , even before the passenger is aware of them.
At the airport.
Flying Business Class with Cathay Pacific is a pleasure. Business class check-in is easy and if you are flying from Jakarta, Indonesia, you are escorted from the dedicated check-in desk directly to the dedicated immigration desk, where an immigration official quickly processes your documents and you can go directly into the lounge.
If you are flying from Hong Kong, you have a choice of four business class lounges disbursed throughout the airport: The Wing, The Bridge, The Cabin and The Pier. Designed to ensure passenger comfort and business productivity, these lounges range in seating capacity from 167 to 467 people.
All offer individual workstations, some with computers and printers, and a range of freshly prepared food and drink from the bakeries, noodle bars, The Long Bar, the Coffee Loft and delis, providing passengers with whatever refreshment, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, they could possibly desire.
The Wing and The Bridge also have the special pod-like Solus chairs, each with AC power and a small desk that make them ideal for business travellers who just need to charge their phone and polish off a few last emails before boarding.
For those who have had to rush to the airport from a busy day, there are spacious shower suites providing a private sanctuary to freshen up before an onward journey, while all lounges provide free local calls, incoming and outgoing local and international faxes, photocopying, document printing, Wi-Fi and the loan of adaptors so you can wrap up all those last-minute details before relaxing on your flight.
While The Wing and The Bridge are light and airy and buzzing with passengers coming and going, The Cabin offers a more private, relaxed experience, ideal for those who need to focus or whose body clock is on evening time. The only announcements made in all lounges are for flight delays or gate changes, providing an area away from the normal cacophony of a large airport. The Bridge, the newest of Cathay Pacific’s airport lounges, features a gorgeous luminous reception wall made of Venetian glass tiles, as well as a bar that offers views across the airport.
If you are flying into Hong Kong, you have the option of utilizing the Arrival Lounge with its buffet, work stations and showers, ensuring you can go directly to your business meeting without wasting any time.
Cabin Comfort.
Cabins on long-haul flights provide business class passengers with plenty of room and are set out in the 1:2:1 herringbone design, ensuring privacy and a clear sense of space. Cathay Pacific claims, completely accurately, that the cabin has been designed around passengers’ needs to sleep, dine, work, read, watch TV or simply relax. Seemingly every detail has been carefully considered and passengers’ needs anticipated and provided for throughout. There are even sprays of fresh orchids in the cabin.
Personal space has clearly been deemed important for the airline’s passengers. All the seats are wing-back, providing a private cocoon that makes it easy to forget you are actually sitting with more than 30 other people. If you are in one of the central rows of seats, aside from being able to slide your chair forward so you can chat over a glass of wine or collaborate on business with your travel companion, you can also keep your chair back and deploy a small screen to assure your privacy. The window seats, meanwhile, are angled to provide a perfect view out of the cabin windows.
Whether your seat is slid forward or not, the easily accessible seat controls allow you to deploy it to your most comfortable position. The back and footrest have independent controls, or you can just push the flatbed button and stop the seat at wherever feels most comfortable for you. Ultimate comfort is, of course, achieved with the seat fully flat at a generous 82 inches, with a useable width of over 26 inches and additional space at the sides so that your knees and arms have plenty of room, even if you sleep on your side.
Whatever position you end up in and however much you might fidget during a long flight, the ergonomic seat is always comfortable, leaving you feeling fresh at your destination.
All seats have direct aisle access and plenty of storage space, meaning you can settle yourself into your seat with everything you need directly to hand, bag tucked into the side pocket, smaller items in the storage locker and shoes in their own storage area.
Dining and Entertainment.
Food and drink menus are distributed for a fully informed choice and drinks are served before take-off, with Billecart-Salmon brut champagne, wines, juices and water brought around on a tray. Cleared prior to take-off, the drinks tray returns as soon as the plane levels off, while the meal is prepared. With linen cloths draped over the seat tray, silver cutlery and Narumi china, it is hard to remember you are dining on a plane. The salmon is thick and meaty, the spicy scallops and prawns richly satisfying and the drinks list extensive, ranging from illy coffees, various teas, spirits and wines, to liqueurs, port and cognac.
Sated, it is time to peruse the entertainment on the 15-inch monitor. With a good selection of recent and popular movies, various language options, TV shows, music and games, as well as plenty of sockets to run electronic devices, the flight passes quickly and in comfort. The cabin crew is unobtrusive, but always there with an extra drink, to answer questions and to help ensure your flight is a pleasure.
With fresh orchids in the cabin, soothing tones of green, brown and champagne, original artwork, fresh linen and fine china, along with impeccable service, travelling business class with Cathay Pacific is a treat.
www.cathaypacific.com
