Business on the Young Dragon

Cambodia had been a blast but it was time to fly back to Hong Kong for my return home. I’ve had some pretty amazing Business and First Class experiences on Cathay Pacific. So when the news came that Cathay were to fully re-brand their regional sibling, it quickly was on my agenda to find an award seat on one of their intra-Asian flights. Dragonair had a good reputation for an Asian regional airline for both their hard and soft products. And now that they’re fully linked with Cathay, redeeming miles with Marco Polo points is seamless.

In fact, Cathay now uses the Dragon brand for the majority of regional Asian flights, except for the biggies. They have integrated their products so that moving from a Cathay flight to a Dragon flight doesn’t really feel like a change. Apart from the long haul CX flights, the products are almost identical. That being said, it was a regional flight, so I was also keen to see how the service compared with the long haul flights.

Seatlink’s Take

The A321 has established itself as a solid regional aircraft and most reputable airlines offer a superb Business product considering they’re usually used on short to medium haul trips. This trip from Phnom Penh to Hong Kong would only be 2hr 35 mins, just enough to sample what their J product offers.

The business cabin on the A321 has 24 seats, in six rows of a 2-2 layout. My seat (15K) was roughly half way through the near-empty cabin. The seats are recliners, positioned in a shell so as not to impose yourself on the person behind you. At over 42″ of pitch and also over 20″ wide, the measurements are comparable to what you’d find on most regional/short haul international flights. There is plenty of room at the feet which I liked and it allows you to fully stretch out below the seat in front. So unless you’re over 6′ 2″, you should be pretty comfy in these seats.

A tray table extends out to double its size, which was plenty for my laptop and a drink on the side. There’s not too many places to store stuff, other than space around the seat, next to the window for example. But Cathay have installed a couple of power points as well as a USB socket to keep you plugged in. As for the IFE, the screen size and remote were user friendly and I managed to catch up on a few shows on the short flight.

I know the flight’s pretty short but Cathay did drop the ball when it came to the food. Promises of sensational food and dim sum plates never eventuated and it was rather ordinary at the end of the day. It was made up however, by the fact that the service was standard Cathay – meaning it was great.

Seats to Choose and Ones to Avoid

The business cabin takes up the entirety of the space between doors 1 and 2 so it’s quite large for a regional product. A curtain at the rear separates the Business cabin from Economy. So it feels better than just a few rows separated by a plastic divider.

Having said that, the rear row (17) is close to both the center galley and the front of Economy, so avoid it if you’re worried about noise. Row 10 is the front row which has a bulkhead. You’ll be pleased to know the IFE screens are on the wall, not in the armrest, so you won’t have to mess about with that. Otherwise there’s not too much difference or any seat that has something special. Just remember that at all window seats, you will have to climb over someone to get out.

If you want to see more seat reviews from other travelers on Cathay Dragon, check out this plane’s seat map here: Cathay Dragon seat map.

Pictures of  Cathay Dragon A321 Business Class :

The Bottom Line

The highlight on this hop across the South China Sea was the service on board. It’s good to know Cathay have re-branded with both the hard and soft product in mind. The seat was really comfortable, with deep recline as well as providing ample room for my feet. Food could have been better, but it’s a short flight and I had better food waiting for me on my long haul CX flight anyway.

What are Your Thoughts on Cathay Dragon Business Class?

If you’ve flown Cathay Dragon, let us know in the comments below! Or better yet, write a review of your seat here: Rate your Cathay Dragon seat 😀