Cathay Pacific Aria Suite business class review – Boeing 777-300ER from London to Hong Kong

This is our review of Cathay Pacific’s new Aria Suite business class.

Whilst Cathay Pacific has kept it quiet for fear of last minute aircraft swaps, it is now flying its first Aria Suite-equipped aircraft to London – the first long haul destination to get the new business class seats.

This day has been a long time coming with Cathay hyping the launch for several years, so it’s good to finally see it all come to fruition. And the aviation geek I am, I was on the first flight departing London as a guest of the airline, making me one of the first 90 passengers (45 each way!) to experience Aria Suite.

You can find Aria Suite (and the new premium economy seats) on the following services every day from the 1st February:

• CX250, departing London at 17:50 and arriving in Hong Kong at 14:35 the following day
• CX255, departing Hong Kong at 23:35 and arriving in London at 06:20 the following morning

…. lthough, with just two aircraft upgraded so far, the chance of last minute swaps is relatively high.

Whilst the focus of this review will be on the new Aria Suite, I’ll still be looking at the full in-flight service.

Check in and ground experience

As always, Cathay Pacific departs from Heathrow Terminal 3 with check-in desks located in Zone C. It’s well sign-posted and visible:

Despite five departures a day, there were no queues for any cabin when I arrived and I was seen straight away by one of the lovely check-in staff.

The fast track security was the emptiest I’ve ever seen it, and T3 is somewhere that fast track is actually fast thanks to the new security scanners. After that I popped into the Cathay Pacific lounge which I’ve previously reviewed here.

Aria Suite review

Let’s start with the basics. Aria Suite will be installed on 30 of Cathay’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, the backbone of its long haul fleet.

In total there are 361 seats: 45 in business class, 48 in premium economy and 268 in economy.

Whilst business class is broadly the same, there is a big 50% bump to the premium economy cabin.

Business class is split across two cabins – one to the left of the boarding doors and one to the right. My preference is always the forward cabin as it means the rest of the aircraft doesn’t board past you, but the seats themselves are identical.

Aria Suite retains the same popular 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration of the existing business class, with direct aisle access for all – and lots of window-facing seats for those who like to look outside.

Whilst the previous seat was based on Safran’s Cirrus platform, one of the most popular business class seats of its time, this time Cathay Pacific has jumped ship to the Collins Elements seat – another bestseller. This is next generation version of BA’s Club Suite, although with Cathay’s own modifications.

Middle seats are now better for people travelling together thanks to the adjustable centre divider:

I think we can all agree Aria Suite looks great. You can’t see it in this photo above, but Cathay makes great use of mood lighting and the relatively light colours of the seats to create an atmosphere once boarding is complete.

I was in seat 16A, the second-to-last row of the forward cabin. Each seat comes with a closing door:

This time, the door and wall height is high enough that I couldn’t see anyone when sat in my seat, and I’m 188cm / 6’2″. This is a big change from BA’s Club Suite where that’s not the case. The inside is covered in a light-green suede like material that is very soft to the touch.

There’s lots of storage, including from a small personal cupboard (complete with headphone hanger and water bottle):

…. a small sliding unit perfect for your passport, wallet, AirPods etc. This is one of my favourite additions and not something I have seen anywhere else. I found it far more useful than the upright storage unit, and the sliding (rather than opening) top means you still open it even if you have drinks or anything else on the surface.

And a deep unit at leg rest level which wasn’t quite big enough to fit my shoes ….

In terms of power, you have a universal mains socket as well as USB-A and USB-C ports in a convenient location. The seat also claims to have a wireless charging pad although there’s no indication as to where this is – a marker needs to be added.

Sadly there are no personal overhead vents. The reading light has been cleverly integrated into the suite lamp.

One of my favourite features is the tray table which is infinitely adjustable. Instead of having a couple of fixed positions, you can pull and push it anywhere you want.

You also have an armrest that can be adjusted to any position, either upright or even flat, to extend the surface of the seat in bed mode:

The lavatories have also had an Aria makeover. There are three in total for business class (for 45 passengers) which seemed enough. Two are the front of the aircraft next to the galley, which has also been smartened up with a new ‘Gallery in the Skies’ concept:

A third, larger accessible lavatory is between the two business class cabins. All the lavatories now feature a lovely travertine effect which elevates them from your usual functional spaces. They are stocked with Bamford toiletries.

How is the Aria Suite for sleeping?

A lot of chatter online about Aria Suite has been about the size of the footwell, which, as you can see below, is not particularly big:

I’m not quite sure what drove this, and I have to agree it does feel tighter than I am used to. Part of the problem is that a couple of inches are lost next to the cabin wall with the vent system. That said, there is good knee room for side sleepers like me, particularly when you flatten the clever mechanical armrest which extends the footprint of the seat in bed mode:

On my return flight I managed to sleep a relatively uninterrupted 10 hours, which I was more than happy with.

At 6’2″ I could do with an extra couple of inches of seat pitch which I think would make a big difference, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as the Singapore Airlines seats which have very small (and off-centre) footwells. The Finnair’s no-recline Air Lounge (review here) retains the crown as my favourite business class seat for sleeping in.

In-flight entertainment and screen

Aria Suite is probably the most high-tech business class seat flying. It starts with this huge 24″ 4K monitor, which is bigger than it looks in photos:

The in-flight entertainment system is super slick. On first interaction, it shows you a quick 3D map of your flight which I thought was pretty cool. It also comes with a raft of unique features, including lavatory availability, so you know where the toilets are and whether they are occupied or not:

Seat and lighting pre-set modes for instantly adjustable (and customisable) ambience.

There is Bluetooth headphone pairing, which takes about 10 seconds here. It just works.

In terms of content, well, the world’s your oyster. I’m in the middle of House of the Dragon and was delighted to find they have both seasons as well as what appears to be all eight seasons of Game of Thrones and a good many other TV shows. Some of the biggest productions are on here in full, not just the itty-bitty single episodes you often find on other airlines.

The same is true of film catalogue, with a vast selection of English language and Chinese language films with useful collections such as ‘007’, ‘LGBT+’, ‘Disney+’, ‘Tim Burton’ and much more.

The supplied headphones weren’t amazing, though, and lacked noise-cancelling features – a particular problem on the noisier Boeing 777. I stuck to my AirPods instead which were easy to pair via Bluetooth.

The aircraft cameras have also been upgraded so you can now watch take-off and landing in high(er) definition!

Wifi is now free for business class passengers and was good enough to keep up with general browsing and social media, including loading videos.

Cathay Pacific amenity kit and bedding

I have to say, the Cathay Pacific bedding is some of the best I’ve tried recently and they have also rolled out a new amenity kit.

Let’s start with the bedding. Packed away in a tight fabric cube you have a long, thick duvet with proper sheets as well as a mattress protector/pad. On your seat is a decent-sized white pillow, and you also get a pair of slippers.

At 6’2″ I often find the duvet is on the shorter side but Cathay’s was excellent – long enough for me to stretch out in.

The new amenity kit now comes in what I would call a clutch format, with a range of colours from yellow ochre to light green to navy. It’s a smart kit with Bamford branding on the front. Inside, you’ll find a comfortable eye mask, a large bottle of mouthwash, dental kit, earplugs and Bamford pillow spray, cooling body gel and multi balm:

Cathay Pacific food and service

Cathay’s food and service haven’t changed with the introduction of Aria Suite, but in the interest of completeness I thought I’d include it in this review.

Normally, inaugural flights like this can be quite chaotic as the crew are unfamiliar with the new cabin and galley layouts. However, I was impressed with my crew who did a good job given the circumstances. It took a bit of time for the meal service to get going but once it did it was smooth sailing. This will only get better over time.

For this particular flight, Cathay had been allocated one of the bad gates at Terminal 3 with an enclosed waiting area. This can be a challenge to manage but Cathay did a good job, including a dedicated, cordoned-off seating area for business class passengers.

Before take-off, crew come round offering hot towels, a welcome drink of water, orange juice or champagne as well as taking meal orders. Cathay Pacific serves Laurent Perrier Brut NV in business class.

Service after take-off was slower, for reasons mentioned above, but started with a drink and an amuse bouche of rolled steak:

This was followed by the starter, with a choice of two:

• Cauliflower and almond soup
• Smoked salmon and avocado tarte with mustard dressing

I went for the latter, which was smoked salmon on a sort of avocado tartar:

For the mains there was a choice of five (!) on board, and you could also pre-order online, which I had done. Here were the options:

• Fish ball and cuttlefish ball with flat rice noodle soup
• Oven roasted baby cauliflower with romesco sauce, crispy chickpeas, basil pesto, fresh chervil
• Arabic spiced chicken with black lime, grilled eggplant and zucchini, almond raisin coriander couscous
• Wok fried cod with supreme soy sauce, asparagus and jasmine rice, with cordyceps flower, dried pear and pork shin soup
• Slow roasted pork belly with jus, celeriac puree, heritage carrots and mustard kale accompanied by leaf salad

I went for the latter, which was beautifully presented and came with three square chunks of pork belly. I had it with a glass of Burgundy red wine.

Speaking of wines, Cathay currently has a wine discovery where it is stocking three Chinese wines on board, in addition to the six existing wines it normally has.

It was then time for dessert, which Cathay serves as part of a trolley service you can mix and match from. Options include:

• Cheese baoard (Manchego, Brie, Roquefort)
• Seasonal fresh fruit (you can pick what!)
• Lemon curd with almond crumble and meringue
• Green tea matcha cheese cake
• Selection of Haagan-Dazs ice cream
• Pralines

I didn’t fancy anything too sweet, so I went for the cheeseboard:

…. and followed this up with some pralines which they offered from a large selection box:

That was it for the dinner service. If you felt hungry during the flight there was a range of all day options you could request at any point including:

• Fish ball and cuttlefish ball noodle soup
• Oven roasted baby cauliflower with romesco sauce
• Classic beef burger
• Galley snacks (ice cream, caramel popcorn and other sweet or savoury nibbles)

I’ve had the beef burger before which is actually surprisingly good. I wasn’t hungry however and skipped over all these options.

Instead, I got six or so hours’ sleep before waking up for the breakfast service which is served about two hours before landing. Cathay has little breakfast cards you can fill out in advance of sleeping with your request to be woken or not as well as what you’d like. There are four options:

• Wellness breakfast (seasonal fresh fruit and warm pastry selection, acai banana superfood bowl with fruits and natural protein seeds)
• Lighter breakfast (seasonal fresh fruit and warm pastry selection, egg white omelette with tomato and avocado, smoked salmon, lemon, dill)
• Chinese breakfast (seasonal fresh fruit, beef and mushroom congee, stir fried egg noodles with vegetables)
• Western breakfast (seasonal fresh fruit and warm pastry selection, scrambled eggs, bacon, cumberland sausage, sauteed mushrooms, cherry tomato, potato cake)

I went for the lighter breakfast and was pleased I did:

Conclusion

Aria Suite is Cathay’s first new business class cabin since it introduced a tweaked business class seat on its A350s in 2016.

There’s a lot to like. Whilst the general layout is more evolution than revolution, retaining the popular reverse herringbone configuration of the previous cabins, Aria Suite is the most high-tech airplane seat I’ve flown.

This is down to the integrated functionality of the in-flight entertainment. It includes things we’ve come to expect by default such as Bluetooth pairing but also cool new features such as lavatory availability, pre-set seating modes and more.

It’s not perfect, of course. I realise I’m in the top percentile of people when it comes to height, but the footwell is admittedly small and would’ve benefited, I think, from a few extra inches of pitch between seats. That said, it didn’t stop me getting ten hours sleep on my return flight.

There are some teething issues to get through as Aria Suite is rolled out. Passengers have been accidentally using the emergency latch to open the suite doors, although Cathay hopes that a cabin announcement and clearer stickers should prevent that happening going forward. The latch on my storage tray was broken on my return flight.

Overall, however, this is a positive upgrade to an already good seat that a lesser airline could have flown for many years yet. Kudos to Cathay Pacific for not resting on their laurels and planning ahead. I know of an airline that could learn a thing or two from this approach…

If you’re keen to try Aria Suite, it will start operating a daily service to London from 1st February on CX250 and CX255. Further destinations are likely to be added once more aircraft are refurbished, with a total of 30 Boeing 777s planned to be refitted with the new cabins.

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