First photos: Cathay Pacific’s new premium economy

The third-generation premium economy will debut alongside Cathay’s all-new Aria business class suites.

By David Flynn, March 12 2024
First photos: Cathay Pacific’s new premium economy

Cathay Pacific has all-new first class and business class suites on the way, but there’s also good news for those sitting a little further back on the plane as the airline literally pulls back the curtain on its latest premium economy seat.

Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.
Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.

Set to debut mid-year on the Boeing 777, this is the third generation of Cathay’s ‘more premium than economy’ product.

Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.
Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.

Winged headrests will offer more a little privacy to passengers, as well as providing another place to rest your head when napping or sleeping – although seats facing onto the aisle in this 2-4-2 layout have just one extruded wing.

Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.
Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.

As expected, the 15.6" video screen is clocked at a rich 4K resolution and includes Bluetooth audio streaming to your own pair of headphones or earbuds – something we expect will soon become a standard feature on all next-gen seats across all airlines.

Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.
Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.

A recess beneath the screen houses not just a compact storage area but a fold-down ‘personal device holder’ for phones and tablets.

While there’s no mention of power options thus far, we’d bet on USB-C and USB-A, with the possibility of some AC sockets shared between passengers – although the adoption of USB-C even for laptops could make those AC outlets redundant.

However, if the photo below is anything to go by, you might not want to be behind a passenger who kicks their seat into full recline... 

Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.
Cathay Pacific's new 777 premium economy seat.

With the Boeing 777s also going under the knife to be fitted with the private Aria Suites business class, Cathay is also reshaping the premium economy cabin.

Airline-supplied images show six rows of premium economy rather than the current four, resulting in a 50% boost from 32 seats to 48 seats.

And with more seats, Cathay says there’ll now be two dedicated premium economy washrooms, one on each side of the cabin.

Cathay’s first foray into premium economy arrived on the flagship Boeing 777 in 2012, and shortly made its way onto the regional Airbus A330 fleet – although there are rumours of this being pared back in a sweeping reconfiguration of the A330s.

Cathay Pacific's first-gen Boeing 777 premium economy.
Cathay Pacific's first-gen Boeing 777 premium economy.

A more refined take launched in 2016 on the carrier’s first Airbus A350.

Cathay Pacific's second-gen Airbus A350 premium economy.
Cathay Pacific's second-gen Airbus A350 premium economy.

This delivered improvements both signifiant and subtle over its premium predecessor, such as more legroom and a greater recline, a larger video screen and an amply-padded legrest, although frequent flyers bemoaned the slightly narrower seat and tighter 2-4-2 configuration compared to the 777s.

Cathay Pacific's second-gen Airbus A350 premium economy.
Cathay Pacific's second-gen Airbus A350 premium economy.

Read the ET review: Cathay Pacific A350 premium economy

01 Dec 2012

Total posts 53

Cathay's new PE looks nice, but sure to be as tight as current PE. My current gripes are

  • Food and beverage offering: what looks and tastes like economy meals, with wine in paper cups, does not cut it for a premium fare!
  • Toilet access: on the 3 class 777, access to toilets at rear of J (good), but on A350-900s, PY passengers forced to use crowded economy class loos.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

20 Aug 2012

Total posts 126

Why on earth would Cathay Pacific management decide to "downgrade" the footrest in their brand-new 3rd generation premium economy seats, back to a small thin wiggly metal bar that sits just 1.5 inches above the floor, with NO calf or leg support??? This is akin to just a long and thin bike pedal! Who on earth gains extra relaxation by putting their feet up on a slightly raised thin metal bike pedal, with no other leg/calf/foot/padded support?

The 2nd generation premium economy seat launched in 2016 on the A350 is notably more comfortable, with greater footrest space and padding for your feet, which is appreciated - especially on a long flight.

For me seat comfort (including a comfortable leg/footrest) combined with a bit more overall room is the main reason I would choose to upgrade from economy to premium economy - while new "tech" features are at the back of my list. 

Even this Executive Traveller article illustrates well the difference between the 2nd and 3rd generation footrests on Cathay's premium economy product.


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