Hello wonderful people of BF! Just want to ask if it's okay to travel from Cebu for the first time going out of the country (Philippines)? I'm planning to take Cathay Pacific to HongKong then HK to Heathrow..
Hi Anne. Yep MCIA is a small airport so check-in, airport tax payment and navigating to the correct gate is straight forward. I would suggest you have at least an hour when transiting HKG though because that is a very large airport.
You know what, Anne, you could probably fly on Malaysia Airlines for around half of the Cathay fare; Malaysia is desperate for passengers.
They haven't got many left! I think a lot of people would think twice flying with them although probability says it's fine. I wouldn't book far in advance with Malaysia Airlines though in case they go bust, don't think the shares are fairing too well.
Malaysia Airlines is a decent airline, I flew with them shortly after MH17 was shot out of the sky, both of my flights were very pleasant and I would have no hesitation flying with Malaysia again. Cathay Pacific offers connecting flights from Cebu to LHR, Malaysia does not. I recall that Malaysia airlines used to fly from Cebu but they pulled out about five years ago, I was on one of their last flights KUL-BKI-CEB. A quick check on the Cathay Pacific website reveals flight availability from Cebu to LHR, from £770 inclusive of taxes, on most days the fare is just over £1,000
The share price is pretty much irrelevant now - unless you're a shareholder - as the Malaysian Government is to buy the 40% it doesn't already own and the airline will be nationalised.
My young lady arrived here using Singapore Airlines, I can tell you from my own experience that they are an excellent airline, even when flying serf class
I would never rely on a 1 hour connection time at any airport, especially Hong Kong. Admittedly, I am disabled and I don't fly much but in Hong Kong I had to travel by metro to get from one terminal to another for connecting flights.
Singapore Airlines has been listed as the third best airline in the world in each of the last three years. There are only two European airlines (Lufthansa & Turkish Airlines) that made it into the top ten this year.
No it's a tight one to do. Think we landed late and had 50 mins. We and maybe 10 others were personally escorted from the LHR-HKG flight via the metro to the correct gate for CEB, literally running. In contrast HKG to LHR was a tight one too, however the LHR staff just gives us a brightly coloured piece of card for express transit through the airport, about as useful as a chocolate fireguard, however we made our MAN flight.
In Anne's case she would be connecting with the same airline and I do know from experience that both Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines will often hold flights in such cases.
I just checked on the website for Humberside Airport. It tells passengers to check in at least 1 hour before departure time on scheduled flights and 2-3 hours before on charter flights. And Humberside Airport is a pretty small airport! For connecting flights, I would advise at least 2 hours - this gives a little leeway should your initial flight be late arriving and probably 3 hours at Hong Kong! In my case I was not allowed to disembark from a plane in Amsterdam because of my disability. KLM staff made me wait until they got a wheelchair to take me down the steps of the plane. That is much more hairy than allowing to get down the steps by myself! I could always go down the steps on my bottom if necessary. I only caught the connecting flight because it was delayed for other reasons. I had a mad dutchman running me around in that wheelchair - I just made sure that I kept my hands and any bag straps well away from the wheels. I think if I ever fly again, I will make arrangements for a wheelchair when booking the flight but insist that I go down the steps by myself!
Looking at Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, both have a 5-hour interval between flights to London..
I will stick my hand up and say that I used to work for Cathay Pacific's parent company, so I should "declare an interest" - I am not unbiased. Having said that... They are one of the best airlines in the world; their technical and operational standards are as good as you will get. A one hour connection through Hong Kong is fine IF YOU ARE FLYING CATHAY PACIFIC both arriving and departing; their ground staff will make quite sure that you do not get lost, and that you make the connection. Recently a Norwegian friend flew into Shanghai from Hong Kong on Cathay; he had been issued the wrong visa by the Chinese Enbassy in Oslo and was refused entry, Cathay flew him back to Hong Kong, their ground staff met him in HK, showed him where to get the right visa (in the airport) found him a hotel for the night and flew him back the next morning - all at no charge because they said they should have spotted the problem, which was one letter on the visa in his passport (he had incorrectly been issued with a residence visa not a visit visa) Try that with Ryanair or Cebu Pacific!
