Will the new Cathay Pacific A350 Make You Want to fly More?

Cathay Pacific has taken delivery of it’s first A350-900 on it’s way to 22 of the aircraft (in addition to 26 A350-1000’s also on order). With it’s arrival The Cathay Pacific A350 sports some improvements that run the spectrum from barely noticeable to fairly big news. Here’s what to expect in premium classes (with a few economy improvements thrown in).

Let’s Start With the bad News

There’s no first class. That’s it. The Cathay Pacific A350 (both -900 and -1000 models) will come in a 3-class configuration with Business Class as it’s top-level offering. It’s not a huge surprise as many airlines continue to pull back on First but Cathay’s Business Class isn’t bad.

But those Cathay Pacific A350 Business Seats…

In addition to what’s offered in Business Class aboard the airlines other long-haul aircraft, the Cathay Pacific A350 seats have a few extras. You’ll get added knee room for side-sleeping, more storage and a “do not disturb” light. Sadly, you’ll lose nearly an inch of seat width over what’s found in comparable seats aboard a 777-300.

More Premium Than Economy?

Premium Economy aboard the Cathay Pacific A350 gets the biggest facelift. All seats have a full legrest, a couple of extra inches more legroom and a larger personal TV than found in this class on Cathay’s other long-haul aircraft.

Entertainment Gets an Upgrade

The Cathay Pacific A350 comes with larger personal TVs in all classes that are loaded with movies, TV shows and other features navigated using an improved CX Studio interface.

Finally-fi

Finally, Cathay Pacific has a plane with installed wi-fi. Connect to the internet at prices based on distance. The initial offering for a flight up to 6 hours is 12.95USD and 19.95USD for flights over 6 hours. Speed is expected to be good but still not designed for streaming videos. If you’ve got movies loaded on your own device, use the new tablet stand/drink holder under your personal TV.

Economy? Ok, sure.

Economy seats get an improved headrests that pull out around your noggin for better support while sleeping. That’s great news for tired aisle-seaters with weak bladders. You’ll also benefit from a larger personal TV and the improved CX Studio interface.

We’re total nerds for new planes so we can’t wait to hop somewhere aboard the Cathay Pacific A350 soon. Let us know what you think of Cathay’s newest plane in the comments.

Tagged as: Cathay Pacific A350.