Cathay to launch lie-flat regional business class

Cathay Pacific will follow the launch of its new Boeing 777 Aria business class, Halo first class and premium economy seats with a tip-to-tail upgrade to its regional Airbus A330 jets.

And the good news is that this fresh take on the A330 regional business class seats will be fully lie-flat beds, rather than recliners.

In announcing Cathay’s 2023 annual results – which saw the airline mark its first profitable year since 2019 on the back of a post-pandemic travel surge, CEO Ronald Lam confirmed  “a new regional product on the Airbus A330 fleet will be introduced featuring flat beds in business class.”

That upgrade, along with an update for the A330’s economy class, will kick off in 2026.

The twin-aisle A330 workhorses dominate short to medium-range routes across Asia and have spread their wings as far as Australia.

Most Cathay A330s include contemporary business class in a 1-2-1 layout.

While most sport Cathay’s second-generation lie-flat bed (which was later refined for the A350 fleet) only some of these have premium economy – the others are in a simplified two-class layout better suited to regional flights within Asia where there’s little demand for premium economy.

Lam has previously hinted at reducing the current mix of five A330 cabin layouts into a more streamlined set.

Former regional arm Cathay Dragon settled on 2-2-2 recliners for its A330s.

This would make it easier for Cathay to transfer aircraft between routes or swap in another jet when once is grounded for technical reasons, while also minimising the impact on passengers which can result in downgrades from business class to premium economy or economy.

Many travellers would hate to loose the A330's lie-flat beds on overnight flights within Asia.

Lam’s comments will scotch speculation that the A330s would inherit regional business class recliners rather than lie-flat beds better suited to longer international flights.

This would have shades of the A330s previously flown by Cathay’s regional arm Dragonair (later rebranded as Cathay Dragon before being absorbed into its parent airline in October 2020), which also sported Cathay’s regional business class recliners on routes to the likes of Singapore, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur.