Cathay: no plans for ‘Aria Plus’ business class

Cathay Pacific’s all-new long-range business class proposition represents a massive leap forward for the airline and its premium passengers, but Cathay says it won’t be turning the first row of the cabin into an upgraded ‘business plus’ suites

Speaking with Executive Traveller on the sidelines of the airline’s new premium economy launch, Cathay’s General Manager for Customer Experience & Design, Vivian Lo, said the airline didn’t see the need to one-up its already impressive Aria Suites design.

Instead, Lo maintains that every seat in the 777 Aria Suites business class cabin is the best it can be, so the only choice passengers really need to make is ‘window’ or ‘middle’.

Several airlines remain intent on transforming their Row 1 into almost a ‘mini first class’ berth, with everyone from companion dining and larger video screens to chiller fridges stocked with a selection of free drinks.

American Airlines this week revealed plans for Flagship Suite Preferred seats which tap into the space between the first row of business class and the cabin’s bulkhead wall.

American joins JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and Air New Zealand in the ‘business plus’ push – although as Lo points out, most airlines taking this approach don’t have a first class cabin.

And first class is something Cathay’s 777s will definitely have, thanks to the development of a new luxury suite for the forthcoming 777-9 fleet.

(That first class suite will be exclusive to the 777-9, with Cathay’s current 777-300ER first class cabin being replaced by the new Aria Suites when those jets roll in to the hanger for refurbishment.)

Behind the Aria Suites name

Lo’s confidence in the Aria Suites led to them being given that unique name – the first time Cathay has ‘branded’ its business class product.

“First and foremost, we feel this very curated experience is very much the core of our overall product direction, with a very clear kind of premium orientation,” she told Executive Traveller.

“So it's almost like showing confidence (in the product) to brand it with a proper name, so that it’s not just a generic business class.”

“And you can see a very clear, quite unequivocal difference between Aria Suite and our current business class, so the Aria Suite name is designed around this particular product.”

Lo wouldn’t be drawn on speculation that the 777-9 first class product will carry the Halo brand, in keeping with a trademark application filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

“Halo Suites, actually we have never said anything about it… I think there’s a lot of guessing and speculation, and I think it’s fun to allow people to speculate a bit more until we announce.”

However, Cathay’s new 777-9 first class “will have its own name,” Lo said, adding that the “design languages are very coherent” between business class and first class.

“So it will likely have very kind of very harmonious, coherent design-directed naming convention.”