Back in March this year, Cathay Pacific revealed its new Aria Suite Business Class concept, becoming the latest carrier to announce closed-door suites in this cabin, with a commercial launch date proposed for the second quarter of 2024.

Cabin refit projects rarely run to schedule, and this rollout is proving to be no exception. While the first aircraft was supposed to be in service with the new seats by 30th June 2024, it has now been confirmed that the inaugural service will be next week, on 18th October 2024, around four months later than originally planned.

That will come in the form of a daily round-trip flight between Hong Kong and Beijing, but as a further 29 Boeing 777-300ER are progressively refitted with this product, the new seats will be rolled out extensively across the network in the months ahead, potentially including some Hong Kong – Singapore flights.

Which flights?

Cathay Pacific is easing its first Aria Suite refitted Boeing 777-300ER in gently with a daily flight between Hong Kong and Beijing, operating between 18th October and 31st October 2024, as shown in the following schedule.

Hong Kong Beijing
Aria Suite Flights
18 Oct 2024 – 31 Oct 2024

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	CX332 777-300ER
HKG 12:00		PEK 15:30
Duration: 03:30
	CX331 777-300ER
PEK 16:50*		HKG 20:35
Duration: 03:45**

* 16:45 departure from 27 October 2024
** 03:50 duration from 27 October 2024

Cathay Pacific also operates five other flights each day between Hong Kong and Beijing, which are not listed above, as they use aircraft with older cabin products during this period.

Relatively short regional flights like these will give Cathay’s cabin crew an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the new product, feedback any teething issues, and potentially tweak service flows as required, before a wider rollout on the network.

The route network for the Aria Suite Boeing 777-300ER from 1st November 2024 onwards has not yet been programmed, so we’ll have to wait and see where Cathay plans to fly it next.

For a long-haul route like Hong Kong – London to have the product offered consistently on a daily basis, at least two refitted aircraft will be required.

Singapore is also an important route for Cathay Pacific, with the carrier offering nine daily departures from Changi T4, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the airline deploy some Aria Suite aircraft here too in due course.

That’s especially likely since Singapore Airlines is holding off its new long-haul Business Class product launch until the introduction of its Boeing 777-9s, likely to happen in 2026 at the earliest, allowing Cathay to showcase its latest seats to the local market well ahead of the competition.

It would be great to get a taste of these new seats out of Changi, where Cathay also reopened its excellent lounge in Terminal 4 last year.

Award redemptions

If you want to try out the new Aria Suite Business Class during its first couple of weeks of operation on the network, award space is loaded on many of these Hong Kong – Beijing flights using 28,000 Asia Miles in each direction, plus taxes and fees.

You can also redeem some of these flights with partner programmes like British Airways Avios, but availability is better via Asia Miles.

Which aircraft?

The cabin refit has now been completed on B-KPO, a 15-year-old Boeing 777-300ER that left regular passenger service for this work to be completed in early July 2024.

The aircraft was flown to the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO) facility in Xiamen, China for the work to be completed, and it flew back to Hong Kong on Monday this week following cabin refurbishment.

That means the lead time for the first refit was around three months, a rate we understand Cathay intends to accelerate to approximately four weeks per jet for subsequent aircraft.

B-KQJ, an 11-year-old Boeing 777-300ER, was flown to Xiamen on 13th September 2024, and we therefore expect this to be the second refitted aircraft, potentially entering service in the coming weeks.

The refitted jets also have a brand new Premium Economy and Economy Class seat design.

Seating configuration

Both B-KPO and B-KQJ were formerly 294-seat four-class aircraft, including a First Class cabin, but in this Aria Suites refit they have received a significant capacity boost to 361 seats in a three-class layout.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER Refitted Seat Totals
Cabin	Old Configuration (77A)	Aria Suite Configuration (77J)	Change
First Class	6	—	100%
Business Class	53	45	15%
Premium Economy	34	48	41%
Economy Class	201	268	33%
Total	294	361	23%

Cathay sure is going big on Premium Economy with this refit, though Business Class retains a respectable 45-seat capacity.

Here’s the seat map provided by Cathay Pacific for this new Aria Suite variant, which the carrier calls ’77J’.

As you can see the Business Class cabin is split across two sections, the forward one with 25 seats (rows 11-18) and the rear one behind the second set of main aircraft doors with 20 seats (rows 19-23).

The forward section may be a better choice, further from the engines and with no bassinet positions, for a quieter ride, though do take note of the toilets on the left side of the cabin, which should make a seat on the right hand aisle (G or K) a good bet for less foot traffic.

There are three toilets for Business Class, two for Premium Economy and six for Economy Class, giving a seat-to-toilet ratio of:

• 15:1 in Business
• 24:1 in Premium Economy
• 45:1 in Economy

Interestingly, two toilets do appear to be reserved for exclusive use of Premium Economy Class passengers, which is a rarity as they often have to share with Economy Class on many airlines.

Here’s aeroLOPA’s seat plan for this new Aria Suite Boeing 777, based on Cathay’s initial rendering, which should give you a good idea of window placement at each row.

For reference, you can see the four-class ’77A’ seating configuration the initial Aria Suite aircraft used to have at the Cathay Pacific site here and the aeroLOPA site here.

In future refits, Cathay will also be converting its three-class ’77P’ aircraft across to the Aria Suite configuration.

About the Aria Suite Business Class

Cathay Pacific has maintained its reverse-herringbone layout in Business Class with the Aria Suite, so window seats are angled towards the windows while aisle seats are angled away from the aisle, towards one another.

As with the current long-haul Business Class product, direct aisle access is retained for all passengers with a 1-2-1 configuration in this cabin.

The big difference though is the now-obligatory sliding privacy door, standard fit almost industry-wide in new Business Class cabin designs.

The door itself doesn’t look that high, and there’s a gap between the base of the door and the cabin floor, so this is far from a fully enclosed suite, or the privacy levels of Qatar’s high-walled Qsuite.

Nonetheless, doors are now a passenger expectation in new Business Class seats, and we’re fully expecting Singapore Airlines to follow suit on its brand new Boeing 777-9s a couple of years from now.

Each seat also boasts a 24-inch widescreen 4K in-flight entertainment screen, a huge upgrade on the 16-inch ones currently fitted to Cathay’s 777-300ERs, and even the 18-inch HD versions on board their latest A350s in Business Class.

It really can’t be overstated how big these screens are for Business Class – even the Qatar Airways Qsuite has only 21.5-inch screens, while the upcoming brand new Qantas A350s will offer 18″ screens.

Here Cathay is matching the latest JAL A350-1000 Business Class IFE screen offering.

These will be fixed monitors, unlike the foldable ones in the current Cathay Business Class fit, and so should allow for gate-to-gate viewing with no need to retract the screens for takeoff and landing.

Cathay Pacific is also promising the ability to “sync up your inflight entertainment with your travel companion” in this seat, a nifty idea for couples in the middle seat pairs watching the same movie or TV show, for example.

Bluetooth audio streaming is also enabled, and that also extends to the refitted Premium Economy and Economy Class cabins.

Storage remains familiar, with the head-height cupboard at the window side or between the middle seat pairs, including an integrated vanity mirror inside the compartment door.

The compartment is lined with a pastel teal green hue, a rare nod towards Cathay’s colour palette in what’s otherwise a mostly beige and cream finish with light wood and brass-coloured finishes, not unlike the upcoming Qantas A350 premium cabins.

Another storage compartment at the seat side is within easy reach, with a sliding side panel revealing a shallow stowage.

This looks the ideal spot for your smartphone, travel documents, and other smaller bits and pieces.

Wireless charging, another apparent must in the latest Business Class cabins, hasn’t been forgotten here – with an integrated power pad directly within reach at the side console.

If you prefer charging the old-fashioned way, at the front end of the side console there’s an AC power outlet along with USB-A and USB-C sockets.

That’s also where you’ll find the seat adjustment, plus some lighting controls, do not disturb button and the cabin call function.

A big benefit for middle seat passengers who don’t know their neighbour is the inclusion of a retractable full-sized privacy divider, currently missing from Cathay’s Cirrus Business Class product.

Obviously when flying as a couple or with a colleague the divider can be retracted, but it should mean no more fear of which seat remains available on board especially for last minute bookings or changes, with the obvious exception that there’s no window view in these middle pairs.

The tray table extends from beneath the IFE screen in this seat, and can be extended in a half-leaf or full position depending on what you’re using it for.

There’s also an integrated device holder at the far end of the table when it’s in the fully extended position, allowing you to prop up a tablet if you’re watching or reading your own content while working or dining.

Cathay Pacific is making a big deal of the lighting options in the Aria Suite, with “personalised suite lighting” that includes a lamp above the side console.

Presumably this will be adjustable to suit what you’re doing at the time.

Of course the seat reclines into a fully-flat bed as you would expect, with a retracting armrest to match bed-level at the aisle side, in a similar setup seem on the airline’s current A350 Business Class seat.

The new cabin fit will also include redesigned lavatories with wood panelling and Bamford amenities.

You can see more of the Aria Suite in this video Cathay Pacific released back in March.

We look forward to seeing some more images of the Aria Suite ‘in the flesh’ as it enters service later this month, to see how it lives up to the designer’s computer renderings.

New First Class for Boeing 777-9s

As we reported in April this year, the rollout of Aria Suite Business Class on 30 Boeing 777-300ERs will mean a removal of Cathay Pacific’s First Class cabin on that aircraft type going forward, probably by around 2027.

The good news is that Cathay Pacific isn’t giving up on First Class.

A brand new First Class cabin, dubbed “The Halo Suites”, will crown the forward section of the carrier’s upcoming Boeing 777-9 aircraft, supposedly from late 2025, though further programme delays until at least 2026 now seem inevitable, amidst the US aircraft manufacturer’s latest woes.

The airline has 21 Boeing 777-9s on order, and we think that number is no coincidence.

Cathay Pacific currently has 38 Boeing 777-300ERs in its fleet, but only 21 of them are four-class versions fitted with a First Class cabin, the exact size of the Oneworld carrier’s future Boeing 777-9 order.

It’s a reasonable deduction that Cathay is using its Boeing 777-9s to replace four-class Boeing 777-300ERs practically one-for-one in its future fleet, so the good news is that we should see just around the same number of aircraft with this flagship cabin installed in future.

The interesting question, especially for likely award space in this cabin, is whether it will still boast six seats like it does now, or whether it gets whittled down to perhaps four seats, which would be a one-third reduction.

Cathay Pacific was originally planning to introduce its new Aria Suite Business Class into commercial service by the end of June this year, but that timeline has slipped, which is common with refit projects like this one.

Nonetheless we don’t have too much longer to wait, with the airline planning daily Hong Kong – Beijing flights with its first refitted Boeing 777-300ER between 18th October and 31st October.

Subsequent routes after that are still to be confirmed, but a second aircraft refit seems to have been ongoing for a month or so, raising hope that further cities or even a long-haul route could be in the pipeline later this year.

Of course we have our fingers crossed for a Singapore debut for this cabin at some point too.

Ultimately the new seats will adorn all of the carrier’s 30 remaining Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, hopefully by around 2027, by which time it will also be appearing on factory-fresh Boeing 777-9 aircraft, and those will also sport a brand new First Class cabin too.

Ultimately, the new seats will adorn all 30 of the carrier’s remaining Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, hopefully by around 2027. By then, the new seats will also be appearing on factory-fresh Boeing 777-9 aircraft, which will also feature an entirely new First Class cabin as well.

(Cover Image: Cathay Pacific)