My first of two flights taking me to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris is QF97, leaving Brisbane at 10:30am for a 5:20pm arrival into Hong Kong.
Having arrived at a virtually deserted gate about 90 minutes before the scheduled departure, I saw our ride to Hong Kong waiting at the gate: an Airbus A330-300, nicknamed Kununurra. It's one of the more dated A330s in Qantas' fleet, but as people say, it gets you from A to B.
Our ride to Hong Kong
After roaming the proverbial departure halls and taking some photos, I walked back to the gate, which was still rather empty, and waited out another hour before boarding is opened. Mum had warned me before she dropped me off that I would have to climb over someone if I asked for a window seat. Pfffft! They were processing so few people that there wasn't even a queue for boarding, and everyone was using the premium queue.
They closed the doors relatively quickly and taxiied out right on schedule. Once the doors were closed, I looked up and down and discovered that there was no-one next to me or in the row in front, and there was no-one for the next 4 rows behind me! Another gentleman said he flew the same flight 3 weeks ago and it was packed. I guess I'll have to take his word for it, but I can see how Qantas' international arm is losing a bucketload.
Also on the flight I met a young guy who was travelling on to Manila from Hong Kong, and a couple who were representing Australia in a bridge competition just outside of Hangzhou, China. Most interesting people.
My palace in the sky for the next 8.5 hours.
The first thing I noticed was that Qantas International has the same nazi approach to electronic devices, that they 'must be completely switched off until we get to 36,000 feet'. I'm told that European airlines don't follow this policy - that will be road-tested in a few hours. As if waiting for the seatbelt sign to disappear, the cabin crew whisked shut the business class separator curtain as soon as we had reached altitude.
According to iQ's flight path, we travelled directly over Yeppoon. Fabulous! A shout out to Uncle Bill and Auntie Marie. This flight path shows all the popular destinations on the map between Australia and Hong Kong, including Pentecost Island. Nope, me neither.
The iQ screen was delightfully small - any smaller and I would need binoculars to see it. OK, not really - but it certainly isn't "the best entertainment system in the world", as it advertises.
The main meal came out less than an hour into hour trip - about 11:30 local time. I was served by Georg (pronounced Ge-yorg), which is an unmistakably German name. A German stewarding on a flight from Australia to Hong Kong? So after lunch, we talked in German whenever we saw each other for the rest of the flight. Speaking a foreigner's native language with them (outside their own country) never fails to be rewarded with a big smile.
The menu - and the result
But back to the food. Let me translate the above menu for you:
Rocket and parmesan salad = rocket and parmesan in a little dish, with a small vinaigrette dressing.
Chipotle beef with mixed rice and corn = rice with a bit of corn, and a few bits of meat interspersed with capsicum
Cheese and crackers = 2 crackers, 1 bit of cheese
Chocolate mouse with cherry and coconut was the only exception - it was exactly what it said on the label.
Overall Qantas gets a tick for this - it was perfectly consumable and serviceable airline food.
Georg came around again and asked me if I wanted a tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. I asked for a hot chocolate, which was absolutely marvellous - a couple of marshmallows and perfect strength. It was the best hot chocolate I've had for some time.
I found out that Georg is from Düsseldorf, which is just north of Frankfurt, although he lived in Berlin when he was younger. I told him about my plans for three days in Berlin, and lamented the fact that I couldn't get to Düsseldorf, to which he replied "next time". I can't but agree - Düsseldorf is a little more old-town and less booming-city compared to Frankfurt and Berlin.
The inimitable Georg
A bit under halfway through the flight, I got up to stretch my legs and to see how many of the other seats were occupied. The back half of the economy cabin, behind the toilets, had been completely blacked out - ALL the windows were shut, and there was barely anyone there - I reckoned there were less than 100 people for 271 seats. On the return trip I noticed that I had sat in 31A instead of 30A - oops! Good thing the flight was so empty.
There was the token handout of apples, and about halfway through the flight the cabin crew brought around ice cream - coconut and pineapple Weis bars. Kudos to Qantas, but the green and gold felt a little tacky.
As I type we are passing over Davao, and the Filipino border - and coming across some solid turbulence. As soon as we got into the Asian region, the cloud formations became stunning, like erupting volcanos and walls of water falling from the sky:
Fluffy and not-so-fluffy Asian clouds.
For the most part, the rest of the flight was interrupted only by the dull hum of the engines right outside my seat. I watched 3 Days to Kill, the new release starring Kevin Costner, and thought about watching a couple of others. Qantas actually has decent new releases - RoboCop, The Monuments Men, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Lego Movie, and the sequel to that Hunter Games thing. Oh wait, Hunger Games. My bad.
About an hour out of Hong Kong the cabin crew came around again, this time with vegetarian pizza. It was yet another delicious example of airline food - I may yet change my opinion about Qantas! Air France has got a high standard to compete against.
Vegetarian pizza - yum!
With less than half an hour until touchdown, the weather forecast was announced as "partly cloudy". What that really means is that the Hong Kong smog was in effect. After touching down, it was a short-ish taxi around the apron before we docked.
I was the last off the plane, and the flight crew generously allowed me to have a look inside the cockpit and snap some photos. It was great to see the difference between an older A330 and the new Dreamliner cockpit I got a glimpse of back in December.
The A330's cockpit
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