12Dawn has not long broken - Cathay Pacific

4
The Hong Kong Sevens is still
fresh in our minds and now there’s
another great rugby event to look
forward to!
In just two weeks, the British and
Irish Lions embark upon their 125th
year Anniversary Tour with the first
stop at Hong Kong Stadium on 1
June.
The British & Irish Lions, a team
selected from the four fiercest of
rivals (England, Ireland, Scotland
and Wales) join forces to go on
an official Tour of Australia, and
their first stop will be in Hong Kong
to play the Barbarians - only the
second ever game between these
teams.
This is one of the biggest
sporting events to arrive in Hong
Kong and CX World has two pairs
of tickets to give away!
To go into the lucky draw to win
these great prizes, simply send
an email marked “Rugby tickets”
to CCD#SCT. Please include your
name, ERN and daytime contact
number.
Lions vs
Barbarians tickets
are available
from www.
hkticketing.
com. More
information
at www.
lionsrugby.hk
The deadline for entries is Thursday,
23 May. The winners of the lucky draw
will be announced on Daily News.
A number of people have asked
where we got the stunning nighttime
aerial shot of the cargo
terminal that featured on the
cover of the April CX World.
The picture came courtesy of
photographer David McIntyre
– an old friend of CX – who
was passing over HKIA in a
helicopter while on assignment
for another organisation.
Visit www.dgmcorporate.com
The Line Maintenance team in Engineering recently inked more
agreements to provide support for other carriers in various outports,
helping to offset the CX Group’s own maintenance costs.
Third-party deals were recently sealed with Emirates in Brisbane and
China Southern in Sydney for the handling of A380 aircraft.
Adam Nelson, Head of International Line Maintenance Operations,
says that the Group’s revenue from third-party business has now grown
by more than threefold over the past decade and equates to 25,000
aircraft movements per annum.
The number of online stations in the CX Group has now grown to
95, and Adam says “The primary goal remains the same year on
year which is to deliver safe, reliable and compliant aircraft that meet
business requirements, but in addition to this we have an opportunity
due to our own aircraft and operational efficiencies to build the third
party business which will ensure longer term sustainability”.
Alignment across the teams throughout the network was reinforced
at the Line Maintenance 2013 kick-off meeting earlier in the year.
“2013 will be a challenging year for us. We will be managing 110,000
movements between the airline group and our third party business, not
to mention new deliveries and retirement of aircraft, charter flights and
fleet changes within regions. Managing all of this is only possible due
to the highly committed Line Maintenance team we have throughout
the network” says Adam.
The Annual Line Maintenance Awards were presented at the kickoff
event to recognise those stations with an outstanding performance
and that made an exceptional contribution last year.
Anchorage was crowned Best Station for “Consistent Excellence in
Line Maintenance Operational performance with outstanding safety,
service and cost management”.
GROWING BUSINESS: Senior Engineering managers (front, centre) with the Line Maintenance managers who flew in for a kick-off event earlier this
year.
The six Saint-Émilion wines recently added
to CX’s First Class wine list give the airline’s
premium passengers yet another reason to
return.
These include the famous Château Figeac
2007 and Château Canon-la-Gaffelière
2007, both from Premier Grand Cru Classé
chateaux, as well as the up-and-coming
Château Dassault 2004, Château La Couspaude
2009, and Château Fonplégade
2008.
Also on the list is the excellent Château
Haut Brisson La Réserve 2009, which is
produced by a Chinese-owned estate.
“CX traditionally serves Bordeaux wines
from the left bank in First Class, so we
thought we’d do things differently this time
by choosing Merlot-dominant wines from
the right,” says CX wine consultant and
Winenow chief editor Lau Chi-sun. Right
bank wines use a fair amount of Cabernet Franc,
which adapts better to the region’s cooler clay
soils than Cabernet Sauvignon.
The six promotional wines are now served on
various CX flights and rotated regularly until May
2014.
“Selecting wines that ‘fly’ is different from
choosing wines on the ground. Wines may suffer
‘bottle shock’ if served at 38,000 feet, affecting
the aroma and taste,” says General Manager Inflight
Services James Ginns.
“Our catering team works closely with wine
consultants to overcome the limitations of enjoying
wine at high altitude. Their expertise has
helped CX win awards, including Best Airline for
Food and Wine in the Frequent Business Traveller
GlobeRunner Awards,” James adds.
CX currently carries around 100 wines from
France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, the United
States and New Zealand.
MASTERCLASS: International and local media tried the six new Saint-Émilion wines at a tasting event
on 2 May, with CX’s wine consultants offering expert tips.
Beginner’s guide to inflight wine
Q: How do inflight conditions affect
taste and smell?
Roy: Don’t expect the wines you
taste on the ground to be the same
in the air. The air is 40% drier in the
cabin, affecting our sense of smell.
Circulation by air conditioning and
vibrations on the plane rob the wines
of some of their flavour and aroma.
Wines with strong tannins become
more bitter, and if it’s acidic it becomes
more so.
Q: How does CX overcome this?
Roy: We don’t know which wines can
fly and which ones cannot if we don’t
test them, so that’s what we do – wines
are flown to Hong Kong straight from
their origins before they are subjected
to blind tasting by an expert panel.
Q: What are some common
characteristics of CX inflight wine?
Roy: Our inflight wines generally have
a big fruit flavour, with mild tannins
and a balanced acidity.
Q: What are some tips on enjoying
wine during a flight?
Lau: The glass should be filled to less
than a third, so that you can swirl the
wine to get the full effect of the aroma.
However, don’t keep swirling because
you’ll fatigue the wine. Every time you
pick up the glass, give it a quick twirl.