![]() The seat padding was substantial and “sculpted” on the sides of the seatback, which provided sufficient back support. With the limited seat width aside, the hard product is decent enough. Even my mother, who’s flown her fair share of longhaul economy class flights in the past, found the seat to be tight and uncomfortable.Ĭathay Pacific Boeing 777 10-Abreast Exit Row Legroom I would think twice before picking a bulkhead seat in Cathay Pacific’s (or any airline’s) 10-abreast configuration. These entertainment handsets further add to the width of the armrest, making the seat feel even more narrow. While I have nothing to complain about the legroom my seat offered, this also meant that the tray table and personal television needed to be stored in the armrest, calling for a significantly thicker armrest.Ĭathay also decided to install entertainment controllers in the first row of seats even though the televisions are enabled with touchscreen capabilities. The reduced width was made worse by the fact that I was in an exit row seat. Heck, these seats are even narrower than those on many narrow-bodied regional aircraft.Ĭathay Pacific Boeing 777 10-Abreast Economy Class Cabin These new seats made the old 9-abreast configured seats feel like thrones in comparison, and are noticeably tighter than any other airline seat I’ve ever flown. The seats are bad, but not too horribleĪs much as I understand the rationale for making this change, the new seats are seriously narrow. This also marks a dangerous precedent for Cathay Pacific and begs the question of whether or not more regionally configured aircraft are going to feature reduced legroom in the future. This reduction in pitch is especially disappointing considering the promises initially made by management when the retrofit project was announced. While I didn’t sit in this section for the flight, I had the chance to try out one of the seats briefly, and the legroom was noticeably tighter.Ĭathay Pacific Boeing 777 10-Abreast Economy Front Cabin Thankfully, the reduction in pitch isn’t extended to long-haul aircraft. However, it appears that on regionally configured Boeing 777-300 aircraft (77P), Cathay sneakily shoved in an extra row to the centre section of the front Economy Class cabin between the second and third doors. When Cathay Pacific initially announced their intention to go 10-abreast on their Boeing 777 aircraft, they promised that they would be keeping the current seat pitch. This decision, while coming at the expense of customer satisfaction, allows the airline to remain competitive in the industry with its revenue per seat. At the end of the day, it’s a smart business decision that allows them to make more money, especially considering that Cathay Pacific has lost its premium brand image. These newly densified aircraft not only allow Cathay to maximise revenue on their flights but also enables them to offer more seats on “prime” flight services that are in high demand. On both of my flights on this trip, the aircraft went out full. Let me preface this post by saying that I completely understand the rationale behind this decision. So, I finally flew the flight last Wednesday – and yeah, the experience wasn’t the best. I wanted to book this flight to experience the new cabins myself to see if Cathay delivered on their promise to “ease the pain” of the reduced seat width in the new seats.Ĭathay Pacific Boeing 777 Hong Kong Airport In a bid to drive up profits, Cathay has begun rapidly retrofitting it’s Boeing 777 fleet with new “densified” Economy cabins, which squeeze in an extra seat per row. This trip was especially noteworthy since it was my very first time flying on Cathay Pacific’s newly retrofitted regional Boeing 777-300 aircraft. ![]() ![]() Hello from Hong Kong! I just came back from a short trip to Tokyo and had a fantastic time. TL/DR: Although I can’t blame Cathay Pacific for their new 10-abreast Economy seats, I had an awful experience, and I will be avoiding them like I do with all my school deadlines.
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