Cathay Pacific displays new premium economy class

Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) has unveiled its new premium economy class and upgraded economy class seats on its long-haul flights from March 2012(ATW Daily News, Aug. 25). The first aircraft featuring the seats will be a Boeing 777-300ER, which will enter service in March on the Hong Kong-Toronto route.

CX CEO John Slosar said the two new products were built on the airline’s new business class introduced earlier this year (ATW Daily News, Dec. 9, 2010).

The premium economy product will feature a dedicated cabin with between 26 and 34 seats. Seat pitch will be 38 in.—6 in. more than economy class—and the seat will be wider and have morerecline.

It will have a large meal table, cocktail table, footrest, a 10.6-in. personal television, an in-seat power outlet, a multi-port connector for personal devices and extra personal storage space.

Passengers will get priority check-in at dedicated counters and priority boarding before traditional economy class passengers.

The airline plans to have 87 aircraft fitted with the product by the end of 2013.

CX’s new long-haul economy class seat features a cradle mechanism, the latest high-resolution touch-screen personal televisions, a USB outlet and an iPod/iPhone outlet allowing passengers to connect their own mobile devices to view content through the personal televisions.