More legroom in Cathay’s A321neo economy revamp

Cathay Pacific’s new Aria Suites business class flatbeds and third-gen premium economy recliners took centre stage in 2025, but this year will see economy class step into the spotlight.

A fresh layout for Cathay’s regional Airbus fleet will add more legroom for economy passengers, with Cathay reducing the number of seats to increase overall ‘pitch’ – an industry measure of the distance between each row of seats.

Larger toilets will also replace the tight confines of the current lavatories as Cathay seeks to address two common “pain points” of passengers on the Airbus A321neo jets which dominate short-range routes across Asia.

32 of the single-aisle aircraft were initially ordered in 2017 for the airline’s regional arm Cathay Dragon, with 12 business class seats and 190 economy seats.

The Airbus A321neo is Cathay's regional workhorse.

Cathay Pacific inherited the planes – and their pre-determined cabin configuration – after Cathay Dragon was shut down in October 2020 as part of a massive pandemic restructuring. 

While the A321neo remains the reliable workhorse of Cathay’s regional network, “our customers have told us in economy class on the A321, the seat is comfortable but there’s not enough space,” says Guillaume Vivet, Cathay’s General Manager of Customer Experience Design.

“So we’re going to reconfigure the entire economy class cabin to give more legroom to our customers.”

Review: Cathay Pacific A321neo business class, economy class

Losing seats to add legroom

“We’re losing a few seats,” Vivet tells Executive Traveller, adding that ripping out a bunch of revenue-making seats “is a hard decision to make.”

“But it’s the right thing to do for us, and I think only a few airlines in the world would make that decision.”

Vivet didn’t specify exactly how many seats would be removed, or what the new economy seat pitch would be.

Cathay lists the pitch in its A321neo economy cabin at being 30”.

The standard 30" legroom in Cathay Pacific's A321neo economy class.

This is the same as competitors Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines across their regional Boeing 737 MAX fleet, while Taiwan’s China Airlines, EVA Air and Starlux all offer an extra inch of legroom – or, in more practical terms, knee-room – in the economy cabins of their A321-series jets.

By comparison, Cathay’s longer-range Airbus A350 has a roomier 32” pitch in economy.

No changes are planned at the pointy end of the A321neo, which sports 12 business class recliners.

Larger lavs and a more service-friendly galley

The revised A321neo floorplan will also reshape “the back of the aircraft,” Vivet says, where washrooms now share the same zone as the kitchen galley.

“We’re moving lavatories out of the galley complex, to forward of the aft doors, instead of being part of the galley.”

Vivet says this “change of orientation” will allow larger toilets than today’s cramped cubicles, and at the same time be the springboard for an upgraded economy meal service.

“We’re elevating the dining proposition to offer more to our customers, so we’ve also listened to our cabin crew (who want to) deliver the best service on the A321neo.”

The new A321neo seats will have an enhanced IFE system and more Cathay-esque colour scheme.

The new-look A321’s seating will also lose the tell-tale red which drew from the Cathay Dragon palette: “we’ll harmonise all the colours to the latest Cathay Pacific design.”

Even the inflight entertainment system will receive an uplift with slightly larger displays which improve upon the A321neo’s current 4K picture quality, Vivet says.

“It’s technically bigger, with a higher quality image, and maybe a few surprises we’re working on… we love to lead the industry on IFE, so we keep pushing.”

A321neo makeover begins mid-year

The first A321neo jet with these passenger-friendly cabins will come off the Airbus assembly line at Hamburg in the second quarter of this year, Vivet says.

Cathay is aiming for a consistent experience across regional economy class.

This will be the 17th model delivered to Cathay, “and from the second half of the year, we’re going to go back to our first 16 aircraft and do those changes as well, and we’re going to go very fast, to get it out to our customers and improve that experience as fast as we can.”

The outcome, Vivet believes, will be “a consistent economy class experience whether you’re on the narrow-body or wide-body regional fleet, on the A321neo refit and the A330 refit.”

“It may not be exactly the same seat model,” he clarifies of the A330 refit due from the fourth quarter of this year, “but feature-wise (and) space-wise they will be a similar set.”

Also read: Cathay Pacific New York JFK lounge set for mid-year opening

David Flynn travelled to Hong Kong as a guest of Cathay Pacific.