Flight Review Qantas QF128 Hong Kong to Sydney

Airline: Qantas
Flight no: QF128
Route: Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to Sydney International Airport (SYD)
Aircraft Type: Airbus A380
Flight time: 8 hours 40 minutes
Travel Class: Economy Class
Seat:  Window Seat
Seat Width: 17.5 inches
Seat Pitch: 31 inches

Check out the full flight review video for Qantas Hong Kong to Sydney on the A380

The A380 is used on the Sydney – Hong Kong route only during peak holiday times when the demand for flights to and from Hong Kong are high. At other times of the year Qantas will operate the A330-300.

At the airport

I got a taxi from my hotel in Wan Chai to the airport which took around 25 minutes and cost me HKD260, which is around A$46.

Hong Kong International Airport is massive! It literally took more than 15 minutes to walk to the departure gate, after a visit to the Qantas Lounge of course!

When I checked in for my flight, I asked at the counter if it was possible to use points to upgrade to Premium Economy or Business Class. The lady who was serving me just gave a very rude ‘All upgrades need to be requested 24 hours before the flight’. No emotion, no apology, just your typical Hong Kong snappy service!

So with my Economy ticket in hand, I headed through security and went to the Qantas Lounge which you can get into if you are a Gold Qantas Frequent Flyer or Sapphire OneWorld status or higher or if you are traveling in Business Class.

The Qantas Lounge at Hong Kong airport is delightful. A very large area which has amazing views out through the floor to ceiling windows. You can see plenty of the planes travel past the window, arriving or departing from their gates. There is a really nice bar and also a full buffet with self-service food. A lady also came around with a trolley offering a range of dim sum dumplings which really impressed me. Great service and delicious dumplings.

After a few dumplings and a soft drink in the Qantas Lounge I then took the long 15 minute walk to the departure gate which including the train ride in Hong Kong airport and the many travelators to get to the next terminal.

On the plane

The A380 used for my flight was named ‘Reginald Duigan’ rego VH-OQK.

Economy Class which is located on the lower deck of the A380 has 371 seats in Economy. Also there are 35 seats in Premium Economy, 64 seats in Business Class and 14 open suite First Class seats.

The Seat

The seats in economy have a width of 17.5 inches (44.45cm) and a pitch of 31 inches. I think the average airline has a pitch of 30 inches with some international airlines having 31 inches like Qantas. I am 187cm tall and this seat gave me more than a hands width between my knee and the seat in front. It was easy to stretch my legs under the seat in front. The seat in front has a small foot hammock which you can rest your feet in but I found this to be a bit uncomfortable position.

Built into the arm of the seat is a USB port which you can use to charge your electronic devices like phone or tablet.

Entertainment On-board

Built in the seat in front is a small 10.6″ touch-screen TV which is loaded up with plenty of movies, tv shows, documentaries and music.

The headphones that are supplied in Economy class are a bit cheap and nasty and have a real tinny sound to them but sufficient to enjoy a movie or 2 during the flight. The headphones are so cheap that the connection that plugs into the socket fell apart when I tried to plug them in. I had to ask for a new pair of headphones after we took off.

The entertainment unit does have a flight map which I love to view to watch the progress of the flight. Unfortunately on this flight the flight map was unavailable the entire flight!

Also in the seat pocket is a copy of the Qantas In Flight Magazine which has some great articles about the destinations that Qantas fly to.

The food

There are 2 meals served on this flight from Hong Kong to Sydney. A dinner is served shortly after take-off and then a breakfast is served around 1 hour before landing.

In Economy Class the crew handed out a food menu which had 3 choices of main meal:

• Stir fried eggplant with spicy sauce, choy som and steam rice
• Chicken Provencal with mashed potato, broccoli and carrots
• Pan fried fish with garlic sauce, steam rice and vegetables

I chose the Chicken Provencal which was really, really tasty! A good choice if I say so myself. This was a good meal with the tasty chicken with a rich tomato based sauce and the mashed potato were really creamy and delicious.

This meal came with a dessert of Cookies and Cream mouse with Oreo crumble. This was just an ok dessert. Nothing special about this one.

Breakfast was a very simple glass of orange juice, seasonal fruit plate and a banana muffin. I rate simple breakfasts on planes. This was so much better than being served rubbery eggs. The seasonal fruit was a slice of orange, some slices of pear, apple, dragon fruit and watermelon.

Final say on this flight

Well Economy Class on the Qantas A380 is not so bad but I sure do look forward to getting back up to a nice Business Class seat! And seeing the First Class cabin, I really need to save my Frequent Flyer Points and use them to upgrade to First Class.