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Cathay Pacific (CX, CPA) has officially announced the launch of the long-awaited Aria Suites business class, as well as an overall interior refresh in all classes on the Hong Kong - Beijing Capital route.
The first flights are due to be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER on 2024/10/18 as CX332/331 - the schedule is to remain as such until the end of October.
The first aircraft with this new configuration is a 14.8-year-old B777-367ER registered as B-KPO (LN 843, MSN 36160), having been delivered new to Cathay on 2010/01/25. It has spent the past three months at Xiamen for the cabin reconfiguration - where Cathay does much of its heavy maintenance work with HAECO Xiamen; arriving back at HKG on Oct 7 at 12:48 local time.
The new configuration (77J) features 45 Aria Suites (based on the AIRTEK platform by JPA Design) in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration;
48 Recaro PL3810 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration;
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…and finally 268 refreshed economy class seats based on the existing Recaro CL3710 platform, with updated seat finishes and a new Bluetooth-compatible IFE system; for a total of 361 seats onboard.
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Note that this new 77J configuration does not feature first class; Cathay is planning to introduce a brand-new product on the 777X, whenever that manages to get certified, if at all.
This is also the first time Cathay has opted to configure an aircraft with more premium economy seats than in business - this marks a 41% increase in PEY capacity over the existing 294-seat 4-class 77A configuration from which B-KPO has been re-configured.
In the meantime, B-KQJ is listed as undergoing maintenance at XMN; it is unclear whether this is for routine checks or for cabin reconfiguration as of now, however it is certain that more aircraft will be reconfigured with Aria Suites in the coming months and operations expanded to other routes served by the 777.
There are currently no plans to retrofit Airbus A350s with this cabin - as far as Cathay Pacific interiors go, those are still fairly up to date (the “old” 777 and A330 premium economy seats are that of the airline’s first iteration of the class of service dating back from 2012!)
To conclude, the introduction of this brand-new cabin has marked an important step in Cathay’s post-pandemic recovery - as the airline attempts to make a comeback to its former glory and expand further afield.
For quite some time now, the airline has been known to offer an excellent - yet dated product, especially across its premium cabins on the Boeing 777 in particular. The introduction of the new premium economy and business class products will most definitely place CX among the ranks of some of the best airlines in the world in the coming years - alongside the planned deliveries of 30 A330neos in 2028, this marks an exciting, new chapter in the airline’s (proverbial) history books.
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