Virgin Atlantic
Route: Heathrow-Hong Kong.
Aircraft: Airbus A340.
Lounge: bright, breezy and really quite trendy with colourful comfy couches. Waiter service is available or you can alternatively wander up to the bar where a wide selection of healthy food is on offer such as raw vegetables and taramasalata. Abundance of TVs and reading matter. I can truly say this is the only time I have ever been waiting in the lounge and wanted my flight to be delayed! Arrive early to enjoy it.
Journey time and punctuality: arrived early in Hong Kong. This leg took 12hrs 40mins in total from London.
Service: extremely friendly and efficient. As soon as you enter the cabin your coat is taken and you are bombarded with stewards offering you everything from drinks to sleeper suits. The stewards call you by your name which makes you feel welcome.
Seats: in good condition and comfortable.
Food and wine: a choice of four main courses including duck, fish and pasta. I opted for the fish which was tasty. However, I did not see a menu for breakfast unless I was too busy sleeping and I wasn’t sure what was on offer.
In-flight entertainment: even the safety video is amusing with cartoon characters. Probably the most outstanding feature is its game selection and eight choices of top-rated movies.
Added extras: good amenity kit and a comfy sleeper suit is given to all business passengers. Shortly after boarding a beauty therapist asks if you would prefer a massage or manicure in flight but warns that if too many people want a treatment there may not be time to accommodate everyone. I opted for a head and shoulder massage which was heaven.
Overall opinion: the best airline I have ever flown with. Flying via Asia with Virgin would be my first choice in the future.
Ansett Australia
Route: Hong Kong-Sydney.
Aircraft: Boeing 747-300.
Lounge: lounge in Hong Kong was comfortable with great shower and good selection of fruit and biscuits.
Journey time and punctuality: flight left late but arrived on time, taking 8hrs 40mins. Combined Virgin-Ansett flying time took 21hrs 20mins.
Service: as soon as I boarded champagne and nuts arrived and my coat was taken. It was great to see the chef come out and talk to the passengers by name and individually recommend meals.
Seats: very comfortable.
Food and wine: choice of four main courses but did not know what the wine choice was – it was not highlighted on the menu. The appetisers which came round on a tray before the meal were great. However, I did not see any snacks on display between meals.
In-flight entertainment: passengers order their chosen videos at the start of the flight and get given the tapes and therefore have control over when they watch them. It was great being able to start, stop and rewind whenever I fancied. I was impressed with the wide choice of films and dramas which totalled 37.
Added extras: Ansett has obviously done away with amenity kits and only hands out eye covers and socks. However, snooping around in the toilet revealed that everything you need can be found in the cupboards although this could perhaps be pointed out when passengers board. The ice cream handed out in the middle of the night was a great bonus for those passengers like me who were suffering from insomnia. Passengers also had the option of noodles at any time.
Overall opinion: great service and food but cannot live up to Virgin’s standards. I thought it would be more Australian.