Cathay Pacific Airways

Organisation of ground and inflight staff was excellent. A comfortable Boeing 777 with 9-across seating, so the comfort of Singapore Airlines. Which made it very strange that the meal service was so shambolic. Staff disappeared for long periods, passed meals amongst each other which then disappeared and required the staff to go look for more. The bun was hot on the outside but cold in the middle. TThe person next to me got water spilled on them by an attendant who seemed to be nannying them. The whole service took an hour and a half, which was probably why only a single drink was served on a 5 hour flight.

Smooth check-in and boarding at JNB and HKG. Decent legroom. Good food. On board service was exceptional. Crew served passengers throughout the 12.5 hour flight with dedication and friendliness. I was shocked by the explicit nature of the entertainment. Problem is that one can see images on other passengers' screens to the front of you, thereby making it almost impossible to prevent children from seeing the images.

Very good experience, its new economy class was a very comfortable environment. Cabin were polite and attentive. Food dishes were delicious.

The premium economy service is non existent and no different to economy. You pay more and the only thing you get is a slightly larger seat. Meal service is identical to economy class so I won't bother again with paying more for Premium Economy. As a Marco Polo member I flew 8 sectors with Cathay in July/August 2015 - some in economy, some in premium economy and 1 sector in business class. If you compare to Air NZ and Qantas premium economy service and treatment, you get the feeling that Cathay pacific could not be bothered.

Flew on 22/8/15 HK-LHR (12h50m) lack of beverages for the entire journey. The flight attendant will not even offer water unless you call their attention. I asked the flight attendant designated to our seat before the take off if I could have my meal first because I am diabetic and my blood sugar level is going down however this did not happen. It seems that the crew and service is going down compared to the other leading airlines.

For Economy Cathay does a very good job. The food is horrible but at least they serve you which is more than I can say for the other carriers. Good attentive service and full entertainment. Even the seat by economy standards is not bad. Fairly soft with good cushion and you get a blanket and pillow. Good Value for the money

Just prior to boarding time, announcement that the aircraft was experiencing technical issues and would be delayed. The delay ended up being 5 hours as the original issue couldn't be fixed and a new plane was required. The CX gate staff took a fair amount of grief from a few vociferous individuals during this time and whilst they could be criticised for not providing information in a timely manner and on occasion promising an update within 10 mins and not delivering that for 30 mins or so, CX should be complimented for how quickly they ended up getting us away. First off, no one should question an airline that delays departure because of a technical issue. Assuming it took an hour or so to determine that the fault could not be fixed, and a replacement aircraft required, it then took CX less than 4 hours to find that aircraft, ensure it was in operational condition, fuel it up, unload the previous aircraft, load up the new aircraft and no doubt complete copious amounts of paperwork. On top of this, a replacement pilot was required due to the restrictions on working hours. During the delay CX offered vouchers to cover an adequate snack and also provided complimentary bottles of water at the gate. The flight itself was fine although the crew did feel a little harried and not as relaxed as usual.

Delayed at HKG in transit the day before, when Dragonair ground crew excelled in helping us get sorted out. Cathay Pacific met high expectations but excelled in our treatment by Chief Purser and Inflight Services Manager. They provided us information on our connection and bumped 5 of us up to business class for last 45 mins of the flight so we could be off the plane quickly. On arriving in HCM, we were met by Vietnam Airlines ground staff who helped us through Immigration, collect our check-in luggage, carry a case between terminals and then help us check-in, right up until we went through security, where he waved us off and wished us a pleasant trip. Wow - service at it's best all round.

Efficient and quick boarding. Warm welcome on-board and smooth pre-flight formalities, with on-time departure. Efficiency continued through the meal service and lights dimmed shortly afterwards. Meal met expectations. IFE content very good. Seat an improvement over the previous fixed shell and for economy class, acceptable. FA's attentive, friendly and efficient throughout flight. Bags a little slow arriving which was unusual for HKG although perhaps due to early arrival, landing before 06.00. All in all, faultless from CX.

I've always traveled via CX BAH-MNL-BAH for years, but this is actually the first time I felt a bit disappointed. With the exception of the ground crew, who are always in their friendly mode, the airplane was old, movie selection was less in comparison to what they offered before. Food was average and Cabin crew were almost invisible. The Dubai stop took too long. I might consider trying other airline next time.