Cathay Pacific First Class review from Hong Kong to London

This is our review of Cathay Pacific’s First Class cabin.

Last month, Cathay Pacific unveiled its new Aria Suite business class – you can read our long haul review of Aria Suite here. At the same time, it reiterated its commitment to First Class and is expected to launch new ‘Halo’ First Class suites when its fleet of Boeing 777Xs arrive in 2026.

With that date still at least two years away, I wanted to look at what you can expect in Cathay Pacific First Class today. Cathay booked me into First Class for my trip back from the Aria Suite media event in Hong Kong last month.

First Class is operated on just a select number of routes, including:

• Beijing
• London
• LA
• New York
• Tokyo

Cathay Pacific First Class ground experience

Like other airlines, Cathay Pacific offers dedicated areas for First Class (and oneworld Emerald) check-in. Rather than a line of traditional counters, these are walk-up islands set against a glowing marble backdrop.

No ugly baggage belts here – staff will take your luggage themselves and place it on the belt in a hidden backstage area.

Whilst it’s not as private as some other airlines which offer completely separate entrances or ‘wings,’ it is very quick and I was off with a boarding pass in no time.

I had always assumed there was no fast track security in Hong Kong, as I had never seen it on previous trips. As it turns out, I had been given a special ticket to access the courtesy channel. However, with new security scanners rolling out at the airport I didn’t need it; the main queue was just as fast and I didn’t have to unpack my bag.

Once through security and immigration (facial recognition technology means you can almost just walk through) I made the long walk to my favourite lounge in Hong Kong (and indeed the world!): The Pier First. This is located right at the other end of Hong Kong International Airport’s loooooong concourse, but I don’t mind the walk as I knew I’ll be sitting for 13 hours later.

(You can take a train if you really want to, although I’m not sure it’s any faster by the time you go down to basement level and then back up again at the other end. The Wing First lounge is much closer if you don’t want to go that far, although it is closing for refurbishment soon.)

I won’t go into much detail here about The Pier First, as I’ve reviewed it on a previous trip.

Suffice to say that it is a stunning lounge, with beautiful green onyx walls, wood panelling and leather seating.

I always head to the spa first to make sure I can get a slot for a complimentary 15-minute massage, before heading to the dining room to enjoy some food. I highly recommend the Sichuan hot and spicy dumplings, which are not that hot and spicy with just the right amount of lip-numbing tingliness!

About ten minutes before boarding I made the long walk to my gate, which was back by Gate 8.

I was a bit early and people had already started queuing up, with separate lines for business class, First Class and economy. Within a few minutes boarding began and I was one of the first onboard.

First Class on Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300ER

The official details about Cathay Pacific’s First Class cabin are on the website here.

The First Class cabin is exclusive to Cathay’s fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft although not all of them have it. There are just six seats in a spacious 1-1-1 layout in the nose of the plane:

Yes, there are two lavatories for just six people.

The cabin is not the newest kid on the block, to put it lightly. This seat was first introduced in 2007, with refreshes in 2013 and 2017.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to love about these first class seats, which offer a tremendous amount of privacy without sacrificing the spaciousness of open seating. I rather like the warm grey woollen upholstery and seat surrounds:

The seat is quite a good study in how far we have come when it comes to advanced materials being used. The expansive wood-effect side console table, for example, looks less convincing than finishes on recent seats, including the new Aria Suite.

What is immediately noticeable about the seat is just how wide it is – 36″ (91cm) to be exact.

The entire seat back is upholstered with a pillow attached to the headrest, although part of it flips down as an armrest should you so desire.

Although there’s no door, you are afforded a high level of privacy thanks to the cocooning seat shell:

One thing to note about this cabin is that there is no overhead storage. Everything must be stored in your seat. To that end, you have a few options.

For small bits (such as glasses, passport, wallet etc) there is a small storage unit tucked underneath the seat control panel and entertainment remote:

There is space for a large bag (and potentially even a trolley bag) under the large ottoman:

You also have your own personal wardrobe / storage unit, tucked away neatly behind the TV screen and with a set of hangars for coats.

Don’t make the mistake I did and put your bag under the ottoman if you don’t have to, as it becomes inaccessible when in bed mode! Better to put it in your wardrobe so you have easy access at any time.

Whilst not the biggest, the 18.5″ TV screen was better than I expected for a seat of this age. It was fast and responsive, although as with all seats on the Boeing 777 fleet features an older-style software system. This is not quite as slick as you’ll find on the A350 fleet or indeed in the Aria Suite. It slides sideways for direct viewing, although you can also easily see it in the locked position.

Universal mains power and USB-A sockets are very accessible, whilst a vast tray table pops out of the side console and is adjustable forward and back.

When in bed mode, it extends into a 6’9″ or 205cm flat bed with no overhang or foot coffin. The space is all yours. Cabin crew will make your bed with a lovely mattress topper and proper, 600-thread-count bed linen; you can also choose from soft, medium or firm pillows from the pillow menu.

In-flight entertainment and wifi

When it comes to onboard entertainment, Cathay Pacific offers an extensive selection of films and TV with some interesting collections such as its A24 collection, LGBT+ collection, Disney collection and more. There are lots of categories to whittle it down if you are feeling overwhelmed.

The interface is not the newest (the A350 has an updated version, which is much better) but it does the job:

Headphones are supplied by Bose and are as good as you’d expect them to be from the manufacturer. There is also a remote with small screen.

Wifi is now free for first class and business class passengers and you need to log in with your seat number and surname. I found it noticeably faster in First Class than I did in business class on my outbound flight, so I wonder if this allows them to adjust speeds accordingly and give First Class passengers priority.

Cathay Pacific First Class amenities

Once you’ve settled into your seat the dedicated cabin crew will come round several times with a raft of amenities for you. This includes the Bose noise-cancelling headphones above as well as these very classy menus:

A special Bamford First Class amenity kit with eye mask, ear plugs, mouth wash, tooth brush, toothpaste and Bamford face mist, moisturisers and lip balm.

They also supplied these very nice pyjamas and organic cotton slippers supplied by Pye (in M and L sizes) with a mandarin style collar:

and

And here I am modelling them!

And that’s all before the pre-departure drinks were offered!

Cathay Pacific First Class food and service

One differentiating factor between First Class and business class is the service. Whilst business class might be considered mass-market luxury, First Class is all about offering whatever you want, whenever you want it. The crew bent over backwards to accommodate me, rather than vice versa.

The service started with charger plate replete with hot towel, handwritten welcome note and sparkling Jing tea:

This was followed (still before take-off) by a ‘proper’ drinks service, where I was asked what I wanted. Of course, I said Champagne and out came the bottle of Rare Millésime 2013 from Piper Hiedsieck accompanied by some warm nuts:

(Cathay Pacific offers two vintage champagnes on board; the other is vintage 2004 Krug, but I think they save this one for after take-off to accompany the caviar service.)

After take-off, some more Champagne, accompanied by an amuse bouche of cold Spanish salmorejo soup with crab:

This was then followed by the caviar service, with 20g of King’s Oscietra caviar from Chinese producer Kaluga Queen. This is only my second time enjoying caviar on board – the first time was with Malaysia Airlines on my very first long haul trip for Head for Points!

The caviar was served with blinis, creme fraiche and finely chopped cooked egg white and egg yolk, as well as the 2004 vintage Krug.

You’ll notice that there isn’t a single serving tray in site. The entire table service is laid by hand, plate by plate. At any one time that includes at least nine items from plates, to breadbaskets, salt and pepper pinch pots, glassware and cutlery. It is proper fine dining.

After the caviar it was time for my starter. Cathay Pacific divides its First Class menu into two sections: Chinese Favourites and International Favourites, with starters and mains on both.

You can, of course, mix and match and even (as this is First Class) have whatever you want, in whichever order you want. The crew are there to facilitiate your experience, rather than stand in your way. In my case, I went for the two starters from the Chinese menu:

• Drunken prawns with aged Huadiao wine (in collaboration with their restaurant partner Duddell’s)
• Double boiled chicken and coconut soup with yellow fungus

Both were delicious. For my main course, I had pre-ordered a meal from Cathay Pacific’s ‘Signature’ menu which is only available in advance online for First Class. This included eight dishes not otherwise available on board, including lamb shoulder confit, braised abalone, steamed halibut with chorizo and more.

Meanwhile, the options onboard included:

• Steamed chicken with morel mushrooms and goji berries with steamed luffa melon with minced garlic, dried shrimps and steamed jasmine rice (in partnership with Duddell’s)
• Pan-seared beef tenderloin with Madeira jus and porcini puree, confit onions, mushrooms and fondant potatoes (in partnership with restaurant Louise)
• Pan fried black cod with edemame and gremolata, ratatouille, roasted Roma tomato and saffron risotto.
• Clay pot rice with abalone, Chinese sausage and pork patty

My pre-ordered main was a decadent baked crab shell with crab meat and onions, brocollini, conpoy and egg white fried rice:

At this point I was getting quite full but I couldn’t say no to the cheese plate, with French brie, Arenberger, Fourme d’Ambert with crackers, red grapes, toasted walnut, pitted dates and Maggie beer spiced pear paste:

…. or the raspberry almond tart with vanilla ice cream:

To round it all off, the crew even came round with a box of two pralines:

(If you are travelling with someone else then you can also buddy dine, using the ottoman as a second seat.)

The attentiveness of the crew was second to none, with regular top-ups to my champagne as well as asking if I wanted to pair any other drinks with my courses.

I decided to sleep this episode of gluttony off and asked the crew to make my bed whilst I changed into the supplied pyjamas. My bed was ready and waiting when I was done and the crew asked if I wanted some pillow frankincense, lavender and marjoram pillow mist.

The bedding is lovely – 600-thread count linen, a lovely pillow and good mattress topper and I managed to get several hours of rest (conscious that I didn’t want to oversleep as I would land in London in the evening.) The bed is very spacious. Even at 6’2″ I could stretch out fully and still not touch the top or bottom!

After waking up I spent several hours working with this cute tea pot by my side:

For the most part, the wifi was good enough that I could send and receive images, load webpages and be productive. Every so often the crew popped by and topped up my glass of champagne and asked if they could do anything else for me.

At some point through the flight the three other passengers and I managed to finish both bottles of Krug on board (I think it was mostly me, to be fair, given how often crew kept topping me up!) and we moved back to the Rare 2013 Champagne.

Midway through the flight I thought I’d try something from the all-day menu, which includes:

• Signature wonton noodle soup
• Classic beef burger, Monterey Jack cheese with bacon, tomato, pickled onions and zucchini on a toasted brioche bun with fries
• Truffle ham and cheese toast with chilli mayonnaise
• Selection of ice cream

Not wanting to eat anything too heavy I went for the wonton soup which was fabulous, with whole prawns inside.

It was then back to work as well as a bit of entertainment.

A second / third meal service (depending on how you count) was available before landing, with crew letting me know I could order it at any time. This involved a fruit platter to start:

For the main course there was a choice of three options:

• Steamed Chilean sea bass with morel mushrooms, yellow fungus and black truffle sauce with wok fried white asparagus with wood ear mushrooms, cordyceps flower sauce, steamed jasmine rice
• Grilled Dingley Dell pork rack with Port wine jus and creamy savoy cabbage with bacon, cumin glazed carrots, fig and potato gratin
• Open faced lasagne with tomato, ricotta and basil

I went for the pork rack, which was a little on the dry side but nothing a bit of jus couldn’t fix. I particularly enjoyed the savoy cabbage as well. I enjoyed this with a glass of Chateau Montrose 2011 Bordeaux in a beautifully delicate glass.

For dessert it was chocolate souffle tart with vanilla ice cream:

After 13 hours, I arrived in London with a (very!) full stomach!

Conclusion

As always, the step up from business class might not seem a huge one: after all, both offer lie-flat beds, course-by-course dining, champagne and more. Whilst it’s a smaller jump than from premium economy to business, everything in First Class is just that little bit better.

By that, I don’t just mean the quality of the wines (vintage in First Class) or the food but also the way it is served: plate-by-plate rather than on a tray, with a huge array of accompaniments and beautiful glassware and crockery.

Arguably the biggest difference is the attentiveness of the service by the crew, who go out of their way to make you comfortable and accommodate your preferences. With two crew looking after a cabin of just six they have so much more time to dedicate to you.

If you get the opportunity to use your Avios (or cash) for Cathay Pacific First Class, you will have a great time.

You can find out more on this special section of the Cathay Pacific website.

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