12 May 2010
Flying to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific
Its still raining, so time to leave Tokyo.
It was only a short walk to the limousine bus, which is then about an 80 minute drive to Narita airport. We should be grateful in Australia, especially Sydney, that airports are so close to the city.
The entire bus fogged up and you couldnt see out the windows, I dont think the driver could either but hes driven that way so many times he didnt need to see.
By the way this 80 minute drive is at 100kmph without stopping, theres not really any traffic on Tokyo Highways.
Once at the airport, check in was instant, using the first class line of Cathay, And I then went on a tour of 3 different airline lounges.
The airport is a bit tired looking, I guess it doesnt have to be so fancy as its a destination airport rather than a transit airport.
My flight left on time, plane was a bit old on the inside but it didnt fall out of the sky. The food was crappy though, see below. I did however watch Shutter Island on the in flight entertainment and enjoyed it greatly.
The limousine bus that takes you to the airport. Wherever you are in the city you will see these. They seem to go absolutely everywhere.
Check in hall at Narita. Not particularly busy.
Japan saved the best sign for last!
You get to ride on a little unmanned train to the satellite terminal. Most airports have these and I dont really get it, this one is only 100 metres long, why not just put a travelator?
Heres my first lounge meal in the Cathay Pacific lounge. Difficult to find, the only access is via a lift. The granola bar thing was delicious, so much so that I just bought some in Hong Kong.
The inside of the Cathay lounge, not a lot of people about.
My second lounge meal in the Sakura JAL lounge. Pocari Sweat for breakfast.
The lounges all have a good view of aircraft operations.
Inside the Sakura lounge, with obnoxious british guy getting drunk for breakfast.
They have these free massage chairs. Im sure youve seen them before, they hurt!
Last lounge, the qantas lounge, I can hardly eat any more by now.
Inside the qantas lounge, this one was the busiest, and there was a roped off area with some serious business men holding a meeting in it, a bunch of old Australian guys speaking fluent Japanese which was pretty impressive. By old I mean 60+ year old CEO types.
Heres my plane, Airbus A330. You might recall that one of these from the same airline, going to the same airport had 1 engine fail and the other stick on at 75% thrust forcing it to land in Hong Kong at 400kmph and bust 6 of its tyres a few weeks ago!
The meal was really dissapointing, but then this is an economy seat. A bulkhead with no one next to me but that doesnt improve the food.