Review: Cathay’s ‘refreshed’ A330 regional business class

Step onto one of Cathay Pacific’s scores of flights to China or across Asia, and it’s a something of a business class lottery.

You might find yourself on an Airbus A350, A330 or Boeing 777 with the Oneworld member’s long-standing flatbed business class – or even on a Boeing 777 with the latest doored Aria Suite.

Perhaps there’ll be a single-aisle Airbus A321neo at the departure gate.

But chances are high that, depending on the route, you’ll be welcomed onto an Airbus A330 with Cathay’s 2013 regional business class.

Cathay's 2013 regional business class is still flying high.

These are recliners rather than lie-flat beds, and set in a 2-2-2 configuration.

Cathay's 2013 regional business class.

It’s a world away from modern business class expectations, which is one reason why Cathay is rolling out its new A330 Aria Studio flatbeds from the end of 2026.

Cathay's upcoming A330 Aria Studio regional business class.

An extensive upgrade program will allow Cathay to streamline the regional A330 fleet into a single Aria Studio configuration across the next few years.

That means for quite some time, many of the airline’s regional flights will still feature these two-abreast business class recliners.

The Airbus A330 is Cathay's regional twin-aisle workhorse.

And increasingly, passengers will encounter a refreshed A330 cabin: the same seats, but with a different look.

Cathay's A330 regional business class.

The seat-covers swap the signature Cathay green for softer wheat tones which are closer to the aesthetics of the A321neo’s business class, as well as the Aria Suite and Aria Studio products.

Cathay's A330 regional business class.

One hallmark of Cathay’s original A330 regional business class was a pocket next to the inflight video screen, shaped to suit the compact smartphones of the day.

This smartphone pocket seemed a good idea at the time...

This was during the iPhone 5 era, when the largest iPhone had a 4” screen (and many people still used the 3.5” iPhone 4).

Adjacent to this: a USB power outlet and a multi-pin video plug to send video from your iPhone or iPod onto the 12.1” seat-back screen using a specialised cable.

Cathay’s A330 refresh sees those pockets covered by a hard plastic shell – a bit of a shame, as they’d still be handy for your glasses or what-not.

To supplement the USB-A socket, the AC power outlet mounted between the seats has gained a USB-C port.

Each A330 business class passenger has their own AC outlet between the seats.

Oddly, this is rated at a modest 15W instead of a fast-charging 45W or 60W.

The upgraded AC outlets now include a (disappointingly) low-power USB-C socket.

Everything else remains the same as when Cathay launched these seats over a dozen years ago.

Cathay's A330 regional business class seat is mounted in its own fixed shell.

That includes a 'fixed shell’ design, so that the seat can simultaneously recline, edge forward and pivot up without encroaching on the personal space of the passenger behind.

Cathay's A330 regional business class seat reclines into its own fixed shell.

Likewise, your space remains 100% yours when the person in front hits the recline button, with ample legroom when sitting.

There's ample legroom in a basic sitting position.

Swing up the extra-large legrest and it’s a comfortable-enough ‘lazy Z’ position for relaxing or grabbing a short nap.

At 21” wide from edge to edge of the cushion, with a little extra wiggle-room under each armrest, you won’t feel squashed.

The deep literature pocket in the centre console is where you can tuck away magazines, books, small ebook readers or an iPad Mini tablet (especially if you dump all the CX-supplied bumpf into the overhead bin).

The screen might be small but the tray table is quite spacious.

That 12.1” screen is painfully small and clearly shows how behind the times its display technology is, although happily, the generously-sized tray table will easily accommodate compact to mid-sized laptops.

As with all Cathay flights there’s free Wi-Fi in business class (and premium economy, if your plane is so equipped).

While not blazingly fast, on my flight between Hong Kong and Beijing it was sufficient for emails, undemanding Web browsing and messaging.

In summary: despite compromises in privacy and flatbed comfort plus decidedly last-gen tech, this is a decent premium seat for a daytime flight but far less so for a late night flight where sleep may be your priority.

If your travel schedule allows the choice between several Cathay flights, check to see which is on an Airbus A350, A330 or Boeing 777 with lie-flat business class.

On the Cathay website’s timetable, click the View details option directly below the flgiht number.

How to check the seating layout on a Cathay Pacific flight.

You’ll see the type of aircraft appear, and clicking the small window-shaped icon next to the aircraft type will call up a seating chart that shows if its business class seats are 1-2-1 beds or 2-2-2 recliners (2-3-2 in the case of the Boeing 777).

And if you don’t have a choice – well, bring on the Aria Studio.

Also read: More legroom in Cathay’s A321neo economy revamp 

David Flynn travelled as a guest of Cathay Pacific.