February 6
Cathay Pacific today announced the completion of their renovations to The Wing First Class Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport. I visited when renovations began in 2010 and offered a review in this post. They’ve certainly spruced things up by the looks of it.
First class, oneworld Emerald and Diamond Marco Polo guests are now greeted upon entry and treated to a drink at The Champagne Bar before heading into the main part of the lounge.
The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong
The furniture in the main seating area has been replaced (thankfully from the worn and tired offering when I visited), but do I see limited end tables and other laptop friendly fixtures?
The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong Seating
That could, of course, be negated by the generous amount of work desks and a separate business center I used during my visit in 2010, though I tend to enjoy staying put on a comfy chair or sofa. I wonder if power outlets have increased in the more loungy area?
The Haven – a first class buffet and dining area – has doubled in size, a noted improvement from my visit when tables filled to capacity rather quickly. And food options have reportedly improved with a reinvented à la carte menu complemented by recommended wine pairings.
The Haven Dining Area
Most improved by the looks of it is The Cabana – five individual rooms providing a shower, separate bathtub and day bed. I’m not certain if they’ve enclosed them fully as when I visited, the “back porch” where the day beds were previously located sat out on a communal area between the five. There were screens/walls stretching out into the rocky area separating each adjacent cabana (without fully enclosing them) and sound was an issue.
The Cabana at The Wing
Overall, it looks great and definitely more first class than the ANA Suite Lounge at Narita I reviewed yesterday.
Related posts:
Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Wing First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Pier First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s The Arrival Lounge Hong Kong
The aircraft had just arrived as I took a seat next to the window and watched a huge amount of cargo being unloaded from the forward cargo bay. Passenger luggage was unloaded from the rear and from what I could see, only three containers were offloaded.
Economy passengers were lined up in their roped queue and an agent was going down the line checking boarding passes and passports. Shortly, an agent started doing the same in the Business Class line. Boarding began right at the designated time and I was scanned and wished a pleasant journey (their English was excellent).
A flight attendant greeted me at the door and pointed the way across the galley to the far aisle of the Airbus A330-300. I made my way to seat 2K and settled in.
My jacket was hung and in a few moments, flight attendants came through with a tray offering orange juice, water and champagne, followed by hot towel service and the distribution of eyeshades and earplugs. Slippers were already at the seat sticking out of the seat pocket. A Korean man had the aisle next to me, but the Business cabin was light, so he was able to move to have a row to himself.
Across the aisle from me was a very chatty American talking to a German next to him and I was thankful to have the two seats to myself. I’m not much of a socializer on airplanes and that guy was chewing the German’s ear off.
Boarding completed, we pushed back on-time and made our way to the runway. I noticed this on my other Asiana flights, but forgot to mention it in earlier reports, that the flight attendants carefully check each overhead bin to ensure they’re fully latched during taxi. Also, before the safety video airs, attendants are in each aisle at the front of the cabin and bow in unison – a nice touch.
After takeoff, menus were distributed and beverage & meal orders were taken a short time later.
I went with the Beef Provencale Stew served with sugar peas, carrots and mashed potatoes. To begin, though, was mixed greens with herb poached chicken and an apple salad.
All were delicious and my main course arrived. I chose garlic bread with my meal.
Unlike my ICN-HKG flight, this dish was fantastic and the flavors were wonderful. The peas might not look that great in the picture, but they weren’t overcooked and tasted good. Then it was on to a fruit & cheese plate.
The chatty and now drunk American across the aisle got the last “good looking” fruit & cheese plate, but mine was just fine. After a bit, Tiramisu was delivered along with coffee or tea.
I passed on the coffee since I knew I’d be heading to the transit hotel to get some sleep immediately upon landing. I freshened up in the lavatory and found the same amenities as my previous flight – toothbrush & paste packets, combs, lotion, facial spritz and eau de toilette.
Airbus has a more attractive lavatory (if a lav can be attractive) than Boeing, with better fixtures and lighting.
They dimmed the cabin and I watched some of the on-demand entertainment.
Even more entertaining and a bit sad was watching the now fully inebriated American across the aisle passing out. The German was probably thankful. He spilled a glass of port all over himself and the seat, struggled to change his shirt in the aisle, and flight attendants embarrassingly scurried away when he became bare chested for all passengers to witness. The cabin reeked of alcohol.
Hurry I did. I was on the international arrivals level and the first transfer security I came across while running was closed. The next one still had their lights on, but was roped off not seemingly allowing entry. I looked inside and saw agents at the equipment, so ducked under the ropes and approached.
After takeoff, the video selections began and I was surprised to find out Asiana’s 777 fleet (at least this “short-haul” departure from Seoul) wasn’t on-demand. The movies just played from where they left off and I confirmed this with a flight attendant when she came by. Pretty inconvenient. Who wants to start a movie mid-way through?
Mealtime approached and the selections on the menu included Western options of either beef or prawns and a Korean option. I went with the Western beef this time and service began promptly. I placed the menu and wine list in the seat pocket ahead of me, but they “disappeared” later in the flight, so I don’t have them to post here. I think the FA saw them and grabbed ‘em sometime during the flight as I noticed she collected them from some passengers when taking their orders.
My main course arrived and it, shall I say, was the equivalent of what you’d get in First Class on any United Airlines flight domestically. Mass-produced food lacking in quality and those potatoes were dry and basically tasteless. I wasn’t impressed.
Fruit & cheese plates came next, but they had run out of fruit plates by the time they got to my row and I got “stuck” with a cheese plate. Asiana seems to always serve the left-aisle first before coming to the right-hand side, so word of advice there if you’re concerned about meal selections.
Then came delicious dessert time featuring Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Wonderful.
I passed out for a while tired from my whole day, but it was a pleasant flight. I have to say, there is a huge difference in the level of service foreign carriers provide to passengers, particularly Asian ones. Flight attendants are always smiling, they’re focused on ensuring you’re comfortable and have a genuine interest in their jobs. It’s so refreshing to fly outside the United States.
The seat itself was comfortable. It’s one of those angled lie-flat seats and I did take it all the way back for a rest. I found that after pressing the lie-flat button stops moving the seat automatically, you can also recline a bit further and raise the legrest another notch or two by using their individual buttons. Not bad, but a true lie-flat seat would be ideal.
We neared Hong Kong and I was very much looking forward to checking into my hotel and getting a proper shower. I missed that chance given my ICN layover was less than 15 minutes.
The visitor line at immigration was longer this time than last, but I eventually made my way through in about 20 minutes and was on my way to the attached 
It’s a short walk down a narrow corridor on the balcony level overlooking gate areas below and large windows facing the tarmac.
I was greeted pleasantly having surrendered my lounge invitation and was directed around the corner to the main seating area. Before making my way there I took a quick look into “The Library” immediately adjacent to reception. Only one person was in there at that time using one of the workstations, so was able to take a quick video of this relaxing section, which is included below. Then I passed the restrooms on the left and several walk-in cubbies with a vast selection of international newspapers and magazines to the right.
The main seating area had several mini sections with comfortable chairs and sofas, as well as six single-sided workstation units with plenty of seats, outlets and a computer & printer at one end. Waiters were abundant and constantly circling around asking for your beverage order.
Near the back of the lounge was another sectioned off seating area with leather chairs and side tables, and here is where you would normally be able to access the Level 7 Business Class section. It, however, is closed for renovations until early 2012, so I was unable to see Cathay’s unique The Noodle Bar and The Long Bar.
First Class passengers have access to The Haven, a buffet style restaurant, and The Cabanas, private bath, shower & relaxation suites. The restaurant was absolutely jam-packed and I waited a few minutes for them to clear off a table. It was so busy, in fact, that I felt too awkward to even snap a shot of the area with my iPhone. I did manage to take a picture of my meager food selections of a scrambled egg “boat,” some kind of processed meat (I really don’t know what it was) and watermelon.
Afterwards, I asked if a cabana was open and was directed to one of the eight total that are available. Each private room features a bathtub, separate shower room, toilet, sink area and backyard with a chaise lounge chair on one side and longer flat bench-style seating on the other. The backyard is semi-private meaning that all the other cabanas open onto the same long community row of rocks facing the frosted wall where you can see people’s silhouettes as they pass. Here, you could literally step out onto the rocks and walk the length of the cabanas if you wanted to be weird. I sat down for a bit in the chair, but a couple that had the two cabanas to my right were talking to each other constantly from their backyards so it was anything but relaxing sitting out there. I took some video and then went back to the main seating area to relax for a while.
While nice, this lounge has seen its better days and it is slated for a makeover early next year. I was hoping for something more like Lufthansa’s First Class lounge offerings in Frankfurt or Thai’s in Bangkok, but this lounge came nowhere close to that level of service and ambiance. I’d consider it more of an upgraded Business Class lounge, actually.
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