While Dragonair has had their new economy seat since 2014, it didn’t get to the A321 until late 2014. Obviously, having six aircraft to refurbish, Dragonair quickly and efficiently refurbished all A321s, which I got today from Hong Kong to Yangon. This was pretty exciting:
- Cathay Pacific and Dragonair have my favourite economy seat flying, mostly thanks to how well padded this is
- While the flight is only three hours, it’s a night flight on the outbound and a redeye on the inbound, so I get a true sampler of the seat
- An A321 with PTVs isn’t that popular, so at least it’s pretty damn good in terms of eye candy
“Don’t take pictures, boy”
Last Saturday was the day that I flew the outbound (today I flew on the inbound, which was similar). While I was initially saving my thoughts for later, I was really pleasantly surprised, so I’ve decided to share my initial thoughts.
DRAGONAIR A321 ECONOMY CLASS SEAT
Dragonair’s A321 economy seat is identical to its A330 and Cathay Pacific longhaul counterparts. It’s one of the most well rounded economy seats I know.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class
There are the exact same features – a TV, a USB charger, a 110V power port – which is okay for a longhaul economy seat, but way more than enough for a plane that’s run on shorthaul flights.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class PTVs
The recline is also more than sufficient. On the way there, the recline worked beautifully, but it was harder on the inbound (I’ll focus more on the outbound, as I used pictures from the outbound – the beauty of a remote stand is that you can be the first onboard no matter what class of service you are, as long as you’re at the front of the economy queue and stand near the door, so most of my pictures consist of exactly zero human beings in it).
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Recline
There’s the nook which I really found useful, especially after my new glasses.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Miscellaneous Item Nook
There’s a coat nook, which Dragonair advertises can fit glasses, though I couldn’t find a way to get it in.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Seat Coat Nook
The seat’s also really, really well padded, as it consists of a separate seat cushion on the actual seat “metal”. I consider it better padded than Cathay Pacific’s business class (or, in that matter, Dragonair’s own business class).
Best of all (especially for my friends, as my own PTV is solely for the airshow), there were movies, so people could chill for this flight.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Movies
Overall, I still continue to love the seat, and would love to see how I’d find the seat on a longhaul flight.
DRAGONAIR A321 ECONOMY CLASS HEADPHONES
Dragonair never had amazing headphones (for the record, neither did economy class, ever), but at least these work.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Headphones
DRAGONAIR A321 ECONOMY CLASS BATHROOMS
The bathrooms didn’t come with the new Airbus/Dragonair interiors, so it’s no different from the old ones. However, Dragonair still doesn’t fail to feature Nobility amenities, which are pretty great.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Bathroom
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Bathroom Amenities
DRAGONAIR A321 ECONOMY CLASS MEALS
Jason told me to get in there expecting a boxed meal, so I was really surprised when hot meals were served. Dragonair usually has really awesome hot meals, and this one was no exception – the beef was tender and well cooked, the sauce flavourful and well seasoned, and it’s not a lot that I like sautéed potatoes – but these were great.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Braised Beef
On the other hand, bonus points to those who can see the mark that’s still imprinted on the ice cream. Not that I’m complaining, but the ice cream was so frozen, hitting it with a spoon just resulted in it being another percussive instrument.
Dragonair Airbus A321 Economy Class Ice Cream
Once again, I’m not complaining.
DRAGONAIR A321 ECONOMY CLASS SERVICE
The service requirements are minimal, but what they provided was actually really good. The flight attendants engaged in conversation, talked to us, asked us what we were doing, and made sure that we were happy with the flight. That said, the load stayed full with the exception of the seat next to me (hallelujah), so the conversation was more pre-flight than throughout the flight.
BOTTOM LINE ON DRAGONAIR’S A321 ECONOMY CLASS
On five hour maximum flights, Dragonair now offers a comfortable seat, hot food (unless it’s a redeye), pretty good service and movies. That’s pretty, pretty damn good for a regional shootoff.
I really wouldn’t hesitate to fly Dragonair’s A321 again, and solely for deplaning purposes may even start choosing it over the A330.