Rhys’ travel highlights of 2024

Yesterday Rob looked at his travel highlights for 2024 – click here. Today it’s my turn.

Last year I thought I’d maxed out on the amount of travel I was doing. I was wrong.

It’s another record year for me with 81 flights and 174,000 miles versus the 64 flights and 141,000 miles of last year. I definitely think this is about as much as I can sanely do, however!

That’s 411 hours flying – about 17 days or just under two and a half weeks spent in the air. I’ve also spent 64 nights in 35 hotels. You can see more of my flight stats on My FlightRadar24.

Of my 81 flights, the majority were business (40) – whilst 33 were in economy, primarily short haul. I tried out more premium economy cabins, including Finnair, China Airlines and Emirates, with my SAS Plus review to be published later this week.

I also managed to try out Cathay Pacific First Class which has long been on my bucket list. The caviar and krug was delicious!

(As we say at the bottom of all of our flight reviews, HfP pays substantial sums to The Woodland Trust each year to offset carbon emissions from our flights.)

Home Kong

Shockingly, I haven’t been to New York at all this year. Instead, I’ve been to Hong Kong twice to see and hear about Cathay Pacific’s new Aria long haul cabins that are due to fly to London from January.

In April I saw the new winged premium economy seat from Recaro and I returned in October for a bombastic, hands-on look at the new Aria business suite onboard the first refurbished Boeing 777. Both are welcome evolutionary upgrades to Cathay’s already very comfortable cabins.

Talking heads

Meanwhile, I’ve spoken to more airline CEOs than ever before:

• Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, told me about the challenges of launching a new airline

• Sir Tim Clarke, CEO of Emirates, told me about the success of their new premium economy cabins and their next generation business class, image above

• Con Korfiatis, CEO of Oman Air, told me about their transformation plan and why they dropped First Class

• Bogi Bogason, CEO of Icelandair, explained why Icelandair is content to be outside of airline alliances and why it isn’t introducing lie-flat business class seats

• Ronald Lam, CEO of Cathay Pacific, discussed the airline’s plans for Gatwick and whether it will allow Starlux to join oneworld

• Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, talked about the future of Upper Class, Heathrow and where it wants to fly next

Going the Extra Long Range

A big story for me these past few months has been the Airbus A321XLR. This new extra long range variant of the popular A321neo finally emerged from the Airbus factory and was delivered to Iberia, with new lie-flat business class seating.

Meanwhile, Icelandair also received its first ever Airbus aircraft, the A321LR. Whilst not quite as long range, it will allow the airline to open new routes and also marks a historic milestone in the airline’s previously all-Boeing 87-year history.

How it’s made

When we board a plane we rarely think about how it’s made or the myriad companies that help to make flight a reality.

I made a special effort this year to highlight the work of the hundreds of thousands of engineers and craftspeople who work hard to deliver the products you may take for granted:

• In Toulouse, I saw Airbus assemble Malaysia Airline’s first A330neo, with an exclusive walk around the Final Assembly Line

• In Norfolk, I went to watch seatmaker start-up UNUM crash-test its first business class seat to make sure it fulfils the safety criteria, image below

• In Peterborough, I saw how Gen Phoenix recycles leather for the transport industry by using water to fuse together leather fibres

• I spoke to Ronald Khoo, Cathay Pacific’s Wines & Spirits manager, to hear how and why airlines select the champagnes they do.

Homes away from home

I spent 17% of my year in hotels. Here are my favourites:

The Conservatorium, Amsterdam – soon to become a Mandarin Oriental – is set in a magnificent former music conservatory on Museumsplein. The highlight, for me, was the spectacular glazed courtyard where you can enjoy breakfast.

Four Seasons Casa Medina, Bogota – another hotel set in a beautiful heritage building (a former residence), it feels more like a home than a hotel, right down to the open fires in your room!

Hyatt Regency Kotor Bay, Montenegro – nobody goes to Kotor Bay without coming back raving about the fjord-like scenery, and nowhere can you see it better than at the new Hyatt Regency resort.

The Langham, London – one of the oldest hotels in London, you’ll be treated to traditional Victorian grandeur here.

The Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island – this brand new private island resort might just be the best Waldorf Astoria in the world. You can see baby sharks and sting rays from the beach!

My office at 35,000 feet

It’s another bumper year when it comes to flight reviews. In an effort to contextualise BA’s Club Europe, I’ve been trying to review other European airlines on short haul flights where I can:

• Aegean Airlines short haul business class review
• Austrian Airlines short haul business class review
• Finnair short haul business class review
• Icelandair short haul Saga business class review
• ITA Airways short haul business class review on the A220

Other long haul flight reviews this year include:

• China Airlines A350 business class review
• Finnair A350 business class review
• JetBlue Mint Suite business class review
• Singapore Airlines A350 business class review
• Singapore Airlines A380 business class review
• Emirates A380 business class review
• Iberia A350 Next business class review

Give me a shout if you work at an airline and would like some coverage next year.

This is your captain speaking ….

For the first time, I got to sit in the cockpit during take-off and landing thanks to my trips with SAS and Iberia. Being able to watch the pilots work – and admiring the stunning views! – will forever be something I remember.

Conclusion

As people often remind me, I have a dream job. Not only do I get to travel the world in comfort and style, but I also get to write about what I love – aviation! There’s so much I haven’t included here, including several pieces looking at future business class trends, a trip to Southampton Airport to walk on the newly extended runway and more. I can’t say my job ever gets boring!

I’m already looking forward to 2025. In January, I’ll be heading to Boston to try out Iberia’s A321XLR. I also hope to review Japan Airlines as well as Cathay Pacific’s new Aria business class seat when it finally launches on London flights.

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