Join me on the Cathay Pacific Aria Suite Flight to experience their new Business Class. The Boeing 777 has gone through a complete makeover from the front to the back.
Video
HAECO Hangar Reveal
The new cabin experience was introduced at a special ceremony for customers, guests and members of the media and Cathay employees at Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited’s (HAECO) hangar facility at Hong Kong International Airport on 16 October.
The first B777-300/ER aircraft with refitted cabin is B-KPO, a 14 year old B777.
The three cabin 777-300ERs will have 361 seats, including 45 business class seats, 48 premium economy seats, and 268 economy seats.
Cathay Pacific’s retrofitted 777-300ER seat map
Here's my visit and glance of the new cabin:
“As part of this evolution, we are excited to introduce new seat products over the next three years.
First, we are launching our all-new Business and Premium Economy cabins, and a refreshed Economy cabin on our retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER.
These will be followed by a new world-leading First class experience onboard our 777-9s, and a brand-new flat-bed Business class product on our Airbus A330s.”
Cathay Group Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau
Tour of the Retrofitted B777-300/ER Aircraft
Cathay also has a new Premium Economy seat installed on their B777-300/ER. The popular Premium Economy section has expanded now to 6 rows with a total of 48 seats.
Video
Launch Flight to Beijing
Cathay Pacific's retrofitted 777-300ER debuted on its Hong Kong-Beijing route on 18 October. Here's my flight experience in the Aria Suite.
The newly refurbished Cathay B777 has 45 new Aria Suite in Business Class, 48 new Premium Economy seats and 268 Economy seats.
After takeoff, I explored all the new features of the Aria Suite which include an added privacy door and some cool technology including a lavatory status monitor and seat customization control on the inflight entertainment screen.
It also comes with 4K resolution, wireless charging, and Bluetooth headset.
I also examined Cathay’s new Premium Economy seat design and spoke with several passengers about their experience. Unfortunately, the majority of the improvements are focused on the Premium cabin, while Economy Class has only several cosmetic makeovers. Watch my full video with passengers' remarks.
Conclusion
A quick 2.5-hour flight is not quite enough to experience the full features and comfort of the Aria Suite. I tried as much as I could. I felt the Aria Suite isn't revolutionary but a natural extension of the current Cathay long-haul Business Class with added privacy doors and improved technology features. It has nice finishings with more soothing color decor. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences, too.
Where and When
Cathay Pacific is initially flying its 777-300ER with Aria Suite on intra-Asia routes. The airline has scheduled the B777-300/ER to fly from Hong Kong to Beijing between October 18 and October 31, 2024 with following schedule:
CX332 Hong Kong to Beijing departing 12:00pm arriving 3:30pm
CX331 Beijing to Hong Kong departing 4:50pm arriving 8:35pm
After that, it will also rotate on select flights to Shanghai , Taipei, Tokyo and Singapore.
Cathay is currently receiving one retrofitted B777-300/ER each month. There are a total of 30 B777-300/ER will be reconfigured. The expectation is that, from January 2025 it will enter long-haul flying. Cathay will also utilize a small fleet of B777-300/ER with First Class cabin until the deliveries of "Delayed" B777-9.