hkskyline's 2011 Flight Reports Thread

hkskyline · #1 Posted: **Oct 29, 2011, 3:41 PM**

Breakfast at the Airport

With the morning departure, I opted for breakfast at the Business Class lounge. While I originally intended to visit The Cabin, Cathay's new airport lounge, in the end I wandered into The Wing. It was already quite busy so early in the morning.

While the chairs were comfortable, they were low and the lounge was quite open throughout, giving little privacy. This contrasts to the more individualistic shell seats in The Cabin.

With the high passenger flow comes a price - a dirty bathroom. However, it was an individual room with toilet and wash basin so there is more privacy.

The funkiest area was the luggage storage racks, which resembled more like a designer shop than a store room.

Today's flight would be operated by an older plane with the regional Business Class. Despite having no lie-flat seats, they had my favourite drink - Cathay Delight.

We took off towards the west, which meant my A window seat would be quite useless today. Strangely, there was a huge slick in the water that seemed to massive to be an unreported oil spill. Perhaps it was natural?

After the light snack, lunch was served. I filled up a bit too much in the lounge, so in the end had to miss the main course. In retrospect, I should've taken it easy on the lounge food since it wasn't great anyway, and the in-flight meals would have been far better.

Although the chairs can only recline so much, I actually prefer these normal-facing seats as they appear to be wider than the newer herringbone type.

It was a very foggy day in Seoul. I could barely see the ground until almost touch-down.

The crew was very friendly and they all had great smiles. Despite the older seat, it wasn't such a big deal given the short flight. However, the satellite terminal at Incheon needs a more frequent train connection. Trains only come every 5 minutes.

The Full Report : http://www.globalphotos.org/hkg-icn.htm

hkskyline · #2 Posted: **Jun 7, 2012, 2:28 PM**

The Cheaper Alternative

A couple of years ago, I had plenty of choices for a cheap direct flight from Hong Kong to London. As the global economy recovered, those choices dwindled, and for a time, I chose Qatar Airways and suffered the Doha airport experience. Nevertheless, the in-flight service and entertainment were superb. This time, not even Qatar Airways could provide that cheap alternative. Air China came to the rescue, and with a stop in Beijing, flying with them to Europe became very affordable, and not as time-consuming as going through Doha. So I was off to Beijing for my connecting flight to Europe.

The Korean Air A380 is a new feature to the local plane spotting scene. I was lucky to see the same aircraft type in Seoul just a couple of weeks earlier.

There were nevertheless some other interesting aircraft around today, including this visitor from the Maldives, but with a Chinese ad on its livery.

I booked this early afternoon flight believing the infamous delays for mainland carriers and Beijing airport would emerge, which could jeopardize my onward European connection had I flown the most efficient transit route. Strangely, today's flight departed on time.

Soon, we took off towards the east. With a right side window, I anticipated the skyline shots coming ahead.

After passing the harbour, we turned north and crossed into Shenzhen.

I suspect this is the Pearl River somewhere near Guangzhou.

I had little expectations for Air China's meals. To keep costs and fares low, mainland carriers usually don't cater from Hong Kong, but fly their meals from their origin in China instead. The mushroom salad was not good but the dessert tasted all right. The rest was acceptable.

Strangely, Air China did not have its own in-flight magazine. Instead, they provide the generic publication which is used by other Chinese carriers as well. It was a little odd looking at a China Southern ad while flying on an Air China plane.

Today's flight would take less than 3 hours, and soon we descended under a decent sky.

Of all my previous trips to Beijing, I didn't recall seeing these kinds of long field plots. It was quite an interesting sight!

Passengers exited to the top level for the long walk to the immigration counters.

The immigration hall was a reasonably big space, but it was already full of people when we started arriving. The lines could no longer be seen as the mass of people became one giant glob. The transfer desk was unmanned, and it took a bit of chasing to find out there was another transfer desk on the other side of immigration that was open. However, that meant trying to cross that glob of humanity. While the airport's hardware looked good, they really need to work on the software - the people who work inside - as the airport experience was still quite terrible.

ColDayMan · #3 Posted: **Jun 8, 2012, 3:40 AM**

Well THAT was awesome.

1ajs · #4 Posted: **Jun 8, 2012, 6:37 AM**

interesting

how often do you fly hk?

hkskyline · #5 Posted: **Jun 9, 2012, 4:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ajs

interesting

how often do you fly hk?

In 2011, I flew 27 flights, the longest sectors being :
HKG-DOH
HKG-DXB
PEK-MUC

QR 813 Hong Kong - Doha
QR 019 Doha - Paris

Cheap Intercontinental Flights

This was my second roundtrip with Qatar Airways to Europe. Considering it was shoulder season, I got an extraordinary deal to fly to Paris to justify the extra flight and transit time.

I had not realized they close their check-in an hour before departure, which was a bit earlier than other airlines I've flown with. Luckily, I made the cut-off.

The red-eye flight was full with many seats taken by packaged tours. Upon arrival in Doha in the early morning, passengers had to take to the stairs to board buses for the terminal.

With almost 3 hours in transit and nothing much else to do in Doha's small terminal, I toured the window spaces for some plane spotting. It was almost all QR aircraft though.

Boarding starts a lot earlier than at other airport since all passengers must take the bus to the tarmac. The process usually begins an hour before departure time. Once past the ticket check, passengers descend downstairs to board the buses.

Just before the flight got on its way, the flight attendants were already at work serving passengers welcome candies.

I purposedly chose a left window seat hoping to see Doha's skyline. I was not disappointed.

It was sunny but dusty in the Middle East as expected. It wasn't a full flight, and there were plenty of empty seats here and there for the 6-hour flight to Paris.

A large breakfast was soon served. The croissant was quashed badly but the rest was good. I wonder where did they import the fruits from?

As we flew over European airspace, a hot snack was served. It was a sandwich with meat inside and tasted quite good.

Looks like someone else just passed through this airspace as well.

My biggest complaint with the A340 is the huge metal box for the entertainment system that sits underneath the window seat, which removes half the stretching space. Surely, they can engineer a better solution to sustain passenger comfort?

I was sitting on the left and clouds were rolling in, Paris aerials were out of my reach. However, the towns en route looked decent enough. Surprisingly, despite the relatively clear weather, the approach was quite bumpy.

We parked at an old facility but it seemed weird that the plane could end up in this position. I suspected it was a satellite terminal and the circular structure beyond was where I'd find the exit.

There was an immigration check by two personnel on disembarkation, so the passengers were backed up for a while as the line slowly trickled. Then everyone descended into a tunnel for the ride into the main terminal building, where there was a formal immigration counter. The whole process was inadequately-resourced, as the line for international passports stretched quite far back, and even the EU counters saw long lines. It was quite some time before I could reach the inter-terminal train to get to the RER station.

The RER trains were old and dirty just as I had remembered from my last visit to Paris.

Full flight report : http://www.globalphotos.org/qr019.htm

hkskyline · #6 Posted: **Jun 26, 2012, 3:16 AM**

FI 451 London - Keflavik
Today's lunch-time flight meant there was still some time left to sightsee before hopping onto the Tube for the 40-minute ride to Heathrow.

There was no line at the check-in counter, and in no time I had my boarding pass and was ready to go. Terminal 1 has been renovated but will never be as bright as the new terminals.

There is a big project to renovate Heathrow and bring it to the modern age. It's one of my least-liked big airports to use although the plane spotting is great.

I was a bit surprised when the A380 appeared. It slowly taxied in front of me and then turned around the corner.

Passengers were stopped at this gate and a line soon backed up. This part of the terminal is shared between incoming and departing passengers. Once the arrivals have cleared, workers will then open the glass doors to let the departing passengers pass to reach their gates. Bad design.

Today's flight would be operated by a 757. Just after the door closed, flight attendants gave a brief description of the volcano that the plane was named after.

Boarding and push-back were uneventful and soon we were heading towards the runway for the westbound flight to Keflavik.

I should've done more research beforehand to confirm which window seats would be blocked by the wing. I forgot this was a 757.

There were PTV's for every seat, although the entertainment selection was not too extensive. For a 3-hour flight it was acceptable.

I was surprised for a full-service carrier, meals did not come free. I wasn't expecting Icelandair to offer Cathay-style catering on short flights though, but I didn't realize they wouldn't even give a bag of chips.

The seat-pocket folder also had lots of tourism literature to help plan an unforgettable vacation.

The cabin has been renovated into a smart combination of white and black. They've kept this plane well.

Unfortunately, I sat on the wrong side of the plane. I could've gotten a far better view of Iceland on the right since we skirted just south of the island all the way to the final approach.

Deciding not to get gouged on the plane, I started looking for food at the airport. It was only mid-afternoon but all the shops were closed, and only started to open as we arrived. I guess this airport doesn't see too many movements during the day. I was gouged in the end - by the airport instead.

Service overall was decent, although the younger flight attendants had a far better smile than the grandmothers, who seemed to have lost the ability to make facial expressions. I liked the redesigned cabin, which gave a modern feel and it was not overdone. Icelandair was a little better than I expected. However, the original ticket price of 175 pounds was quickly overrun by 370 pounds of taxes and fees.

My Reykjavik Gallery : http://www.globalphotos.org/reykjavik.htm

staff · #7 Posted: **Jun 27, 2012, 6:09 AM**

Should've opted for that Saga Class.

I did CPH-KEF-EWR on Icelandair a while back and I was not impressed. Neither by the airline nor trans-atlantic travel in a narrow-body jet.

Illithid Dude · #8 Posted: **Jun 27, 2012, 8:15 AM**

What a cool idea. I've always loved airports and airplanes- just design-wise. I like seeing how the different classes work, what food they give you, etc. It's always an adventure. I should start doing one of these...

hkskyline · #9 Posted: **Aug 6, 2012, 2:46 PM**

FI 603 Keflavik - Toronto
Having just arrived from London, I had a 2-hour transit in Keflavik before my connection to Toronto. The airport is small, and only started receiving more planes after my flight's arrival. Many of those arriving passengers seemed to be connecting as well. Soon, the terminal's seats were virtually filled up.

It appears the European flights all arrived at around the same time, while the North American flights all departed around the same time 2 hours later.

My first encounter with Air Greenland was in Copenhagen in 2007.

Being such a quiet airport, congestion delays are probably unthinkable here.

Once again, food was not free. Only non-alcoholic drinks were complimentary.

I watched the flight map on my PTV closely with anticipation. A few hours into the flight, we reached Greenland. It was my first time flying over this vast wilderness. Past transatlantic flights skirted further south.

There were plenty of mountains, snow, and ice. Under the blue skies, the scenery was spectacular.

The sandwich from the airport could not possibly last the 6-hour flight to Toronto. I had ordered a bigger meal. The most filling option I could find was the chicken breast, which costed 12 euros. They had sushi on the menu, which was ironic because even the Japanese carriers did not serve it in Y. It was delicious.

I was busy eating and taking photos at the same time. Since we crossed the southern tip of Greenland, I didn't have much time before we'd hit the ocean again.

The clouds rolled in as we made landfall in Labrador.

The PTV screen had very crisp and clear images. It wasn't one of those first-generation projection screens.

This was the same type of aircraft as my London - Keflavik flight. Again, the ceiling panels had black wrapping around the reading lights, which was a simple yet stylish decoration for a seemingly old aircraft.

There was a weird layer of sunshine between the thick clouds during our descent. It was the sunset peeking through.

YYZ

Service overall was the same as the previous flight. The scenery was wonderful, and the aircraft's interior has been taken well. It was a full flight; perhaps people are starting to consider them a valid option for their transatlantic journey. Unfortunately, we parked at the far end of Terminal 3, and it took a while to walk to immigration, where long lines awaited.

Full flight report : http://www.globalphotos.org/fi603.htm

SHiRO · #10 Posted: **Aug 6, 2012, 4:58 PM**

pretty awesome!

BG918 · #11 Posted: **Aug 13, 2012, 3:30 AM**

I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread. Looking forward to more posts and more pics of aircraft, especially obscure ones like Greenland Air.

I also have been interested in Icelandair since they started flying from Denver to Keflavik a few months ago. I've been considering it for an upcoming trip to Paris since there isn't a nonstop to CVG from Denver, even though it would be cheaper and probably more comfortable to just fly United with a stop in Chicago or Dulles..

hkskyline · #12 Posted: **Aug 14, 2012, 4:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BG918

I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread. Looking forward to more posts and more pics of aircraft, especially obscure ones like Greenland Air.

I also have been interested in Icelandair since they started flying from Denver to Keflavik a few months ago. I've been considering it for an upcoming trip to Paris since there isn't a nonstop to CVG from Denver, even though it would be cheaper and probably more comfortable to just fly United with a stop in Chicago or Dulles..

Thanks for your support. Does UA offer full meal service on the transatlantic leg? If so, I would not recommend Icelandair unless you want to tour Iceland for a few days on the way. I was quite appalled to pay for a simple meal for the long transatlantic trip. But then, I'm quite spoiled flying around in Asia these days.