Review: Cathay Pacific Economy Class, Taipei to Hong Kong

While not Cathay Pacific’s shortest flight, with that honour going to the Hong Kong - Guangzhou route, Hong Kong to Taipei is still a short flight to experience the flag carrier of the city. Scheduled at just under two hours, but usually taking just over ninety minutes, you can get a small taste of what the airline offers.

This flight was operated by one of the airline’s long haul configured Boeing 777 aircraft meaning it came with four cabins (Economy, Premium, Business and First). This may be a win for some passengers as First is not sold on this route meaning Business passengers may be able to select those seats. Unfortunately, I was only in Economy on this flight - but the long haul configuration means that the seats are slightly better than you would usually find on Cathay Pacific short haul flights.

The boarding experience at Taipei was smooth but only one jet bridge was in use on this day. We entered the aircraft through the second set of doors, turning right through the Business and Premium cabin to Row 40 in the Economy cabin. This is one row behind the emergency exit as I prefer to have my items with me.

Cathay Pacific have deployed a brand matched deep green colour for their seats and I have to say, these look really smart. Matched with an adjustable seaweed green headrest, they are some of the nicest long haul Economy seats around - and I would be pretty happy to fly this on the hop to London.

I didn’t test the recline, as the flight was so short, but I found the legroom reasonable at 32in/81cm (I am 6ft2/188cm tall). Unlike some other airlines, there seems to be plenty of padding in these seats - although that was certainly helped by the lack of middle seat passenger.

Cathay have deployed HD-resolution inflight entertainment displays which have an exceptional amount of content and are easy to use. One oddity is that the displays in Economy (left below) are better than those in Premium (right below)- which haven’t been refurbished with newer technology for smoother scrolling.

Since taking this flight, Cathay Pacific have introduced a newer software design on some aircraft. The existing software was already excellent and I suspect the new version is as good, if not better.

Not only is the display great, but the general seat design is very smart. Below the display is a flip out tablet stand and cup holder (seen in action in the images) - this is great and meant I could use the intuitive inflight map while watching my preferred inflight entertainment, YouTube videos.

The tray table is in a bifold design, mean it folds into two. Likewise with the tablet holder, this just makes the seat a bit more comfortable to hold a drink without being constrained by a full tray table allowing you to leave your seat if needed.

There was very little to comment on the flight itself - I didn’t even make it to the toilet! Service was smooth and the cabin crew helpful, but the flight isn’t particularly long enough to make a judgement on a whole airline.

Food is served on a flight of this length by Cathay Pacific - and it’s hot! The airline served a tasty chicken and mushroom with soy-based sauce alongside rice and vegetables. While it wasn’t big, and the only drink provided being water, I was surprised at the quality of what the airline offered on a route this short to Economy passengers.

In short, while you can’t judge an entire airline off one very short flight, I was impressed with Cathay Pacific’s offering even after several years of the airline’s decline. While I probably would never opt for their Premium Economy option on a paid ticket on a flight this short, their Economy offering is solid and competitive with regional rivals. I would highly recommend the overall offer, especially if you have status meaning you can access their excellent lounges at the departure airport.

Would I choose them over somebody else like Singapore Airlines or EVA Air on a connecting itinerary? That’s a far more difficult question…