Read the previous flight report here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/73862/cathay-pacific-cx723-hong-kong-hkg-kuala-lumpur-kul/
After 5 days in Malaysia, my family and I are ready to go home onboard Cathay Pacific flight CX724, from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong. The trip wasn't the best, but we wanted to put it behind and enjoy the flight home. But that's when KLIA decides to give us a surprise package, with 100% shock, 100% anger and 0% happiness. However, the flight itself was very good, it is just KLIA being horrible and spoiling visitors' final impression on Malaysia.
We arrived KLIA at 2pm, packed our final belongings into the baggage, then went to print the air ticket. Nowadays, other than business class passengers or passengers with specific membership levels, other Cathay Pacific passengers (and maybe other airlines as well) must use the machines near the check-in counters to obtain their baggage tags and air tickets, then proceed to check in their baggage yourself. For Cathay Pacific in KLIA, there are two self check-in machines for baggage, and with many passengers, the wait time can be quite long, so it would be recommended to arrive at the airport earlier.
Upon baggage check in, we proceed to immigration, that is where the nightmare begins. Our tour guide recommended that my grandma use the courtesy lanes to pass through immigration, so my aunt went to the courtesy lanes with her, and others used the E-channels, just like how we did during our arrival into KLIA. Most of us passed through the E-channel successfully, but my 7 year old cousin did not, even after a few attempts and following where the footprint is drawn, the E-channel failed to recognize his face. As a result, our tour guide recommended my cousin and his mom went to use the courtesy lanes, where families with younger children as well as the elderly are allowed to use. The staff at the end of the courtesy lane asked why they are using the lane, they explained the situation, and the staff allowed them in. However, at the counter, the officer said that they cannot use the courtesy lane and they must use the E-channels as they entered through the E-channels during their arrival. We explained the situation, but she still insisted on her point, then she came out of her counter, frustratedly, and led them to the E-channels. There, my aunt passed through the E-channel, but my cousin failed to pass through the E-channel again. The officer ordered my cousin to move back and forth multiple times very rudely, making him very scared. At the end, my cousin passed through the E-channel, the officer returned his passport and said very impolitely and loudly "it's working, why you said it isn't?" then returned to her counter furiously.
At that time, my aunt and grandma was still waiting at the counter to pass through immigration, which they should have passed through ages ago if that officer simply let my aunt and cousin pass through the counter. When that officer returned to the counter, she treated my aunt and grandma very rudely as well. She asked my aunt what her name is, she replied, then the officer said rudely "what are you saying?" My aunt replied "What are you asking?" And the officer said she was not talking to her. Afterwards, the officer returned the passport to them rudely, completing their immigration process. Note that my aunt and grandma arrived using the E-channel, and now they use the courtesy lane and successfully passed through immigration. That means there is no such problem as being 'not allowed to use the courtesy lane' because you used the E-channels for arrival, contradicting the officer's own words immediately.
After the ordeal, we passed through security check, then took the train to the C gates, as we would be departing from gate C34.
Our plane, a Boeing 777-300, arrived at the gate at 4:40pm. Although on time, but our flight is scheduled to depart at 5:40pm (boarding time is scheduled at 5pm), meaning a turnaround time of 1 hour, which certainly means our flight to Hong Kong would depart late.
As expected, at 5pm, boarding did not start. Boarding began at around 5:30pm, 30 minutes behind schedule. Even though boarding began late, we pushed back at 5:59pm, only 19 minutes behind schedule. Economy passengers seated at the back were boarded first, then boarding gradually moved to the front sections of the aircraft.
Seating at rows 48 and 49 for the flight, my family and I were among the last to board the aircraft.
The aircraft for today is a Boeing 777-300 in the regional configuration, featuring 42 business class seats in a 2-3-2 configuration (recliner seats) and 396 economy class seats in a 3-4-3 configuration, with 32 inches of pitch and 17 inches of width. Before the flight, when I knew we are going to fly on the Boeing 777-300 aircraft, I thought the seats are going to be very uncomfortable. The seat is clearly narrower than the A330-300 that I flew into KLIA on 24/7, but it was still acceptable and better than I anticipated. It was a shame that I never travelled on any Boeing 777s before the economy seats were converted into the current configuration.
This is a picture of the cabin.
Maybe the captain knows we are behind schedule, the taxiing seems faster than usual, which is nice. Flight time for today is 3 hours and 28 minutes (actual), 16 minutes longer than the flight to Kuala Lumpur that I flew on 24/7.
We pushed back at 5:59pm and began taxiing at 6:05pm. After a short taxi, at 6:12pm, we took off on runway 14R, making our way home.
We initially climbed to FL330 for 24 minutes, then ultimately reached our cruise altitude of FL350 at 6:41pm, 29 minutes after takeoff.
Dinner was served shortly after takeoff. The options are Nasi Lemak and fish fried rice, both seems to be loaded from Hong Kong. I prefer the Nasi Lemak more.
The dinner is accompanied with drink service, where alcoholic drinks are also served, possibly due to this being a dinner service. I chose red wine, and it was satisfactory, Although we (in the left side of the airplane) were offered both meal options, the right side only got the fish option.
The blankets were also insufficient for the flight. Before takeoff, when some of my family members wanted to get a blanket, we were told that it was out of stock. After takeoff, we found it too cold, and told the cabin crew about it. One of the cabin crew, Ms Sonali, told us that she will try her best to help us, and after a while, we found that the cabin was warmer. She came back and told us that she had increased the cabin temperature to 25 degrees, and we felt much better. Other than the heartwarming service by Ms Sonali, other cabin crews, Ms Ritika and Ms Polly also served us very well. Therefore, around 1 hour 15 minutes before landing, after I used the washroom, I went to the galley, got a cup of tea, then asked whether I can get a comment form to commend their outstanding service. They gave me a card to write on and I gladly wrote the card for them.
When Ms Polly went around to check whether we buckled up due to turbulence, I gave the card to her, and she was really happy to receive it. A while later, Ms Sonali also came and thanked me for the card.
Shortly after, we began our descent at 9:12pm, 3 hours after takeoff. We expected that the weather in Hong Kong would be terrible due to weather reports, and that we may face delays and have to circle around before landing, but it was better than expected. We followed the BETTY3A approach and passed 10,000 feet at around 350 knots ground speed. It was a smooth approach into Hong Kong, as most planes at this time may need to fly delay vectors due to the high volume of traffic coming into Hong Kong.
We landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 9:40pm, then taxied to gate 64, arriving at 9:56pm, 4 minutes before scheduled. It was the first time I landed on the new runway, and the taxiing time was shorter than expected (as there were rumours that certain pilots taxi slowly after landing at Hong Kong).
That is the end of the flight report. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! See you on the next one!
nice flight review on the B777 300 on the flight back from Kl even a visit to negara zoo as well as nice meals onboard again as well.
Thanks! Really enjoyed Negara Zoo!