Tried & Tested

Dragonair A330-300 (Type 1) Economy

31 May 2009 by intern11

BACKGROUND:  Dragonair flies from Hongkong to Shanghai 16 times daily at half- or one-hour intervals, including three flights code shared with parent airline Cathay Pacific. The first flight out of Shanghai departs at 7.40am and the last is at 8.30pm. Also operating on this lucrative route is Shanghai’s China Eastern Airlines.

CHECK IN: I reached Shanghai Pudong’s Terminal Two at 3.30pm to catch my return flight to Hongkong, which was timed at 4.30pm. Dragonair offers online and mobile check in 48 hours up to 90 minutes before the flight, along with seat selection and self-print boarding pass services. For departing customers, Dragonair has the notiFLY messaging service informing registered passengers of their confirmed flight time, which is a useful reminder.

For my departing flight from Hongkong, I checked in a day earlier and registered for the notiFLY service on Dragonair’s website. The next morning, I received a mobile-phone message via notiFLY at 5.51am informing me that the flight would leave on schedule at 8am.

However, on the return leg, I did not check in online nor opt for the notiFLY service. Arriving at Pudong airport one hour ahead of my 4.30pm flight, I proceeded to counter 23. It didn’t take long before the staff checked me in and for me to move on to Gate D61.

BOARDING: At 3.55pm the staff made a pre-boarding announcement to passengers of flight KA875. By 4.10pm, boarding had begun. As the flight was nearly full, it took a while before I got to my seat in the front Economy section. I was seated by 4.23pm. The aircraft peeled away from the gate at 4.38pm.

THE SEAT: An Airbus A330-300 is used on the Shanghai route and any of its three aircraft configurations can be deployed depending on operational needs, according to Heidi Li, Dragonair’s assistant public relations manager. Type one features 284 seats in First, Business and Economy Classes, while type two (315 seats) and type three (300 seats) have Business and Economy cabins.

This was a three-class A330, configured 2-2-2 (AC-DG-HK) in First, 2-2-2 (AC-DG-HK) in Business, and 2-4-2 (AC-DEFG-HK) in Economy from rows 22 to 46 and 2-3-2 (AC-DEG-HK) in rows 47-52.

Economy Class seats have an 18-inch width and a 31- to 32-inch pitch, and can be reclined to 105°. A 110V AC power outlet is available in selected seats for plugging in laptops and other electronic devices.

My assigned seat 26F was located on the fifth row, right after the Business section. However, this seat wasn’t the most comfortable on an almost-full flight. Seated in the middle row and not in an aisle seat meant I had to battle with my fellow passengers for shoulder and arm space. (I wished I had remembered to check in early!)

WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE? Anywhere except rows 34 and 35 unless you want to be near the toilets, although row 35 does provide ample legroom. The back rows can be a noisy area as the galley is located at the far end of the plane.

THE FLIGHT: This being a short flight of two hours and 20 minutes, I wasn’t that keen on the IFE. Ceiling LCD screens were found at seat rows such as 25 and 28. Showing at that time were an episode of Friends and a Hongkong-produced Brunei travel-and-lifestyle programme.

Less than an hour into the journey (at 5.18pm), dinner service started, with a choice of dim sum and seafood pasta. I opted for the former, which turned out to be quite tasty. A couple of announcements about the climate, flight duration etc were made first in English, followed by Cantonese and Mandarin. The service overall was satisfactory.

ARRIVAL: The plane landed six minutes later than the scheduled 7.10pm and we were disembarked at Chek Lap Kok airport quickly.

VERDICT: A good flight frequency caters well for business travellers.

PRICE: An Economy Class return fare in mid-July is HK$2,298 (US$296) including taxes.

CONTACT: www.dragonair.com

Julian Tan

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