Dragonair A330-300 Business class
Published: 15/01/2010 - Filed under: Tried & Tested » Airlines » Tried & Tested » Tried & Tested » Airlines » Dragonair »
BACKGROUND Dragonair alternates its Airbus A320s, A321 and A330s on this route so seating configuration can vary. Dragonair flies the Taipei-Hong Kong route four times daily. The route is also served by China Airways, Eva Air and Cathay Pacific as well as Thai Airways.
CHECK-IN I checked in online and chose seat 16K, a window seat in the last row of business class. Dragonair had a counter dedicated to internet check-in when I arrived at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport and was swiftly issued a boarding pass and lounge invitation. The immigration queues were very short.
BOARDING As I arrived at the airport about 70 minutes before departure, I headed for the EVA lounge shared at Taipei airport which Dragonair shares, located one floor up from the departure terminal. It’s spacious although a little dated. The food and drink offering is somewhat limited, surprising given that this is EVA’s home base. There is a business centre and, this being hi-tech Taiwan, a computer games centre. There is a limited selection of Chinese, English and Japanese reading materials. A ten-minute delay was announced and the gate was about ten minutes’ walk from the lounge. Boarding for Economy was by row number and there was a separate queue for Business class and the upper tiers of Oneworld’s frequent flyer classes. I was shown to my seat and offered a choice of a glass of Piper-Heidsieck Champagne or orange juice.
WHAT SEAT TO CHOOSE This variation of A330 is a Type 3 model with 30 Business Class seats and 270 economy class seats. On this type, 16K is a window seat at the back of the business class cabin next to the galley. The cabin configuration is 2-2-2. Business class seats on this aircraft are in rows 10-16. There are no rows 13 or 14. The new business class seats are quite an improvement with better seat and leg rest controls. There are some other nice touches such as the tray table having an integrated book holder and a cocktail table in the front of the inner arm seat. The seats also have an in-seat power supply, video monitor in the inner arm of the seat, a personal reading light and even a massage function.
You can see the seatplan for this aircraft here.
FOOD AND DRINK Dinner was a duck breast with liver pate. Main courses were stewed beef with onion and pepper sauce and steamed rice, or seafood in basil cream sauce. Dessert was a sesame panna cotta with coconut mango sauce. There was a wide selection of Chinese teas, as well as coffee. The drinks selection was fine with a reasonable wine and spirit selection for such a short flight.
ARRIVAL It was a smooth flight and we touched down just ahead of schedule. Business class passengers disembarked first.
VERDICT Good service and pricing on this still competitive key route.
PRICING A return Business class flight between Taipei and Hong Kong costs HK$4,340 (US$560)
CONTACT dragonair.com
Kenny Coyle
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