Review: Dragonair Business Class PVG - HKG

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Cathay Pacific (CX) #5891, DragonAir (KA) #891
Shanghai (PVG) - Hong Kong (HKG)
Saturday, March 21st, 2015
6:20 PM - 9:10 PM
Airbus A330-300 Business Class

This flight is sold by Cathay Pacific, but it's operated by Cathay's regional subsidiary, Dragonair. Dragonair flies many of Cathay's intra-Asia routes and the level of service that I have come to expect is right on par with that of Cathay. At this point, I've taken several flights between Shanghai and Hong Kong on Dragonair and I'm almost never disappointed. For such a quick flight (just under 3 hours), you'll get a full meal and plenty of personalized service.

I boarded the flight and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the cabin. This particular flight had a 3 cabin configuration and the business class was configured as 2-2-2, which is absolutely fine for a short flight.  Each seat has a pillow (with funky orange metallic fabric) and blanket available as well as an in-flight entertainment screen with the same amount of movies and TV shows that you will find on a Cathay longhaul flight. Even though the airplane was a bit dated, the cabin still felt fresh and clean, which is very appreciated. 

Dragonair Business Class Cabin

Dragonair Business Class Cabin

In-Flight Entertainment Screen

As the flight was boarding, the flight attendants came by to welcome us aboard and offer newspapers and pre-departure beverages. In addition to the standard orange juice and water, they were also offering a very lovely alcoholic fruity something, which I took without hesitation. It was excellent, but I have no idea what was in it. 

Pre-Departure Beverage

The seats were comfortable and were able to recline as well as extend a foot rest, which is amazing to have for such a short flight. The seat controls as well as the IFE remote are next to the seat and they're intuitive enough to operate, which is not always the case. 

Dragonair Business Class Seat Controls

Dragonair Business Class Entertainment Remote

As expected on Cathay, the flight attendants address each passenger by name when asking for beverage orders and meal orders, which is always amazing. Sure, they use a cheat sheet at the beginning, but almost every time, they've been able to remember my name when de-planing, which is impressive! (And no, I don't think this has anything to do with the fact that I'm very blonde and there are usually very few other blonde passengers on flights in Asia.) 

As I mentioned, you can expect a full meal service on this flight, which is impressive. The crew will hand out trays with a salad, appetizer and bread plate along with your drink, then come back a bit later to add the entree. When it comes to bread, there should be no hesitation - nothing is better than Cathay Pacific garlic bread. Don't even bother with anything else. 

Aesthetically, the menu looks very similar to what you will find on American or Cathay and there's quite the selection given how short the flight is. There are three entree choices, including an "Asian Delight" which is found on a special addition to the menu and changes every couple of weeks. 

​The menu read as follows: 

...

Starters
Chicken and mushroom terrine with zucchini

Mixed lettuce salad with Italian vinaigrette dressing

Main Courses
Braised duck in five spices braising sauce

Roasted cod fillet with lemon cream emulsion, leek with bacon Gratin potato and broccoli

Asian Delight: Thai green curry beef brisket, coconut rice and vegetables

Dessert
Haagen-Dazs ice cream

​...

Asian Delights Menu

Since I'm not a fan of duck or fish, I went for the Asian Delight. It wasn't something I ever would have ordered in another setting, but it wasn't bad. I definitely felt proud of myself for trying something new. Dessert was ice cream, which was simple and delicious.

Dragonair Business Class Meal

Dragonair Business Class Meal

Dragonair Business Class Dessert

Shortly after the meal service concluded, it was time to prepare for landing in Hong Kong.

There is really no better way to travel between Hong Kong and China and I really enjoy Dragonair. Aside from the fact that the hard product and service are excellent, there's also the fact that the airline has a very cool name, so you really can't go wrong.