Cathay Pacific is plowing ahead with its fleet modernization taking on many new Airbus A350s and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Boeing 777X. However there’s a major update also regarding the wide-body regional fleet of A330-300s. The airline is updating the onboard business class product which will now feature a tailor made Aria Suites for the specific aircraft type.
In this post:
- The Aria Suites Soon Debuting on the A330-300
- What Does the New Cabin Interior Offer?
- Which Aircraft Will be Getting The Upgrade First?
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The Aria Suites Soon Debuting on the A330-300
The A330-300 is no spring chicken, these are among the oldest in the current Cathay Pacific fleet alongside some Boeing 777-300s. However, contrary to what I have been convinced of, the A330-300s are here to stay in operations for quite some time.
Cathay Pacific has revealed the new Aria Suites it has specifically designed for the space and cabin of the A330-300. This is a big deal.
The A330-300s in Cathay Pacific’s fleet have an average age of 17.5 years. Despite that the regional configured aircraft will be going through retrofitting and will have the new Aria Suites fitted.
There’s no specific launch date for the entry into service of the first retrofitted aircraft, the airline simply stated it will be “coming soon”.
What Does the New Cabin Interior Offer?
The new business class cabin shares the name and concept with the larger Boeing 777-fitted Aria Suites.
The regional A330s will have a reverse-herringbone layout with new lie-flat seats which will massively enhance passenger experience, comfort, and privacy.
Additionally every passenger will have direct aisle access with the new setup which is not guaranteed currently on regional A330-300 operations.
Which Aircraft Will be Getting The Upgrade First?
I’ll be very clear, there’s no specific details about which aircraft will be the first to undergo the retrofitting. However, this is my personal guess. Time will tell if I was right or wrong.
There are currently 3 Cathay Pacific regional configurations:
- 33A
- 33B
- 33P
| 33P Config | Seats | Layout |
|---|---|---|
| Business Class | 24 | 2-2-2 |
| Economy Class | 293 | 2-4-2 |
| 33B Config | Seats | Layout |
|---|---|---|
| Business Class | 42 | 2-2-2 |
| Economy Class | 265 | 2-4-2 |
| 33A Config | Seats | Layout |
|---|---|---|
| Business Class | 8 | 1-2-1 |
| Business Class | 42 | 2-2-2 |
| Economy Class | 230 | 2-4-2 |
The cabin that is better structured at the moment for the retrofitting, to me is 33A. That setup has a premium heavy configuration which is the most ideal for a seat such as the Aria Suites which takes up more space than the older business class seat.
Next in line is the 33B setup while I don’t think the 33P setup will be touched for quite some time as it offers a super-high regional wide body configuration which is unique to the Cathay Pacific fleet.
| 33A | 33B | 33P |
|---|---|---|
| B-HYG | B-LBD | B-HLM |
| B-HYI | B-HWM | B-HLN |
| B-HYJ | B-LAB | B-HLO |
| B-HYQ | B-LAA | B-HLT |
| B-HLU | ||
| B-HLV | ||
| B-HLW | ||
| B-LBH | ||
| B-LBI | ||
| B-LBG | ||
| B-LBF | ||
| B-LBE |