Obviously there are bigger issues going on at Cathay Pacific right now than the progress of their Wi-Fi installation. However, I wrote a post a while back about their progress installing Wi-Fi on their 777s, and wanted to update that post, since several people have asked me if the status of this has changed.
I’m generally a big fan of Cathay Pacific, though there are some areas in which they’ve historically lagged. One of those areas is Wi-Fi.
Cathay Pacific has offered Wi-Fi on their A350s since they started taking delivery of them a couple of years back. However, the backbone of their long haul fleet continues to be the 777, and they only started installing Wi-Fi on these planes last year.
Cathay Pacific’s A350 business class
In this post I wanted to provide an update on Cathay Pacific’s 777 Wi-Fi installation progress, given that it has been several months.
In this post:
Cathay Pacific’s General Wifi Plans
Cathay Pacific’s general plan is to install Gogo 2Ku satellite-based Wi-Fi on their Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft, including those operated by Cathay Dragon.
The process started around the middle of last year, and last I heard, the plan was for all Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon wide body aircraft to feature Wi-Fi by 2020. This is certainly an exciting development for the airline.
Note that on the 777 the addition of Wi-Fi is coming at a cost, sort of. Not only is Cathay Pacific installing Wi-Fi on their 777s, but they’re also adding more seats. They’ll go from being one of the few airlines to feature just nine seats per row in economy, to having 10 seats per row in economy, like most other airlines.
Cathay Pacific’s 777 first class
How Many Cathay Pacific 777s Have Wifi?
Now that we’re approaching the end of 2019, how is Cathay Pacific doing when it comes to installing Wi-Fi on their 777s, which are the planes used for many of their longest flights?
This amazing resource about Cathay Pacific’s fleet has the lowdown on how many 777s have Wi-Fi. What’s interesting is that there’s not full overlap between the planes with 10 seats per row in economy and those with Wi-Fi, which surprises me, since I figured Wi-Fi was being installed the same time as extra seats.
As of now:
- 0 out of 2 Boeing 777-300ERs in a three class configuration with 9 seats per row in economy feature Wi-Fi
- 12 out of 18 Boeing 777-300ERs in a three class configuration with 10 seats per row in economy feature Wi-Fi
- 0 out of 7 Boeing 777-300ERs in a four class configuration with 9 seats per row in economy features Wi-Fi
- 20 out of 24 Boeing 777-300ERs in a four class configuration with 10 seats per row in economy feature Wi-Fi
In total that means 32 of 51 Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ERs have Wi-Fi. That includes 12 out of 20 777-300ERs in a three class configuration (without first class), and 20 out of 31 Boeing 777-300ERs in a four class configuration (with first class).
As you can see, if you want to maximize your odds of getting Wi-Fi on a flight:
- Book a four class 777-300ER with 10 seats per row in economy, since 83% of those planes have Wi-Fi
- Book a three class 777-300ER with 10 seats per row in economy, since 67% of those planes have Wi-Fi
The best way to book on one of these flights is to just take a look at the economy seatmap for the flight you’re considering, and figure out if it has nine or 10 seats per row in economy.
For example, looking at a random date in December (the 15th), it looks like all 777 routes show configurations with 10 seats per row in economy:
- 3 of the 3 LAX frequencies features a 777 with 10 seats per row in economy
- 3 of the 3 JFK frequencies feature a 777 with 10 seats per row in economy
- The SFO frequency features a 777 with 10 seats per row in economy
- The ORD frequency features a 777 with 10 seats per row
Seatmap for Cathay Pacific’s 777 with 10 seats per row
Cathay Pacific 777 Wifi Summary
Cathay Pacific is making good progress with installing Wi-Fi on their 777s. As it stands, 32 of their 51 Boeing 777-300ERs feature Wi-Fi, and that number is growing fairly quickly. While there’s no way to guarantee your flight will have Wi-Fi, your best bet is to book one of their 777s with 10 seats per row in economy (especially their four cabin variety) as a majority of those planes feature Wi-Fi.
Have you flown a Cathay Pacific 777 with Wi-Fi yet? If so, what was your experience with the Gogo 2Ku service?
Does anyone knows when they will end of installing wifi on all their 777 with first class seats?
Have a flight on last July
Thanks
I wonder how it will be controlled or lack of on China-bound flights. I wonder if internet access for all of their planes will be bound in this way.
You won't have to worry when CX no longer exists in its' present form after China erodes most of the 2 systems 1 country. model.
Flying JFK-HKG route in End of the year/ early January and back... is it bound to have 3-4-3 seating now? Y class it is this year but if that's really the fate... Do I need to succumb to crossing the Hudson to EWR and fly the 350 back to the 852 because that's a guarantee 3-3-3 seating in the back? Don't really care about Wifi because slack is too slow to load 30000+ feet up in the air and I'll most likely pass out half the flight since it's a 1am departure.
Simon : LAX-JFK doesn’t go near the poles so the signal should work all the way.
@Tom
Exactly right. Being airborne in J class is practically the last realm of serenity for me. I have not not died, suffered physical or mental injury, incurred financial loss or broken relationships or started a war by being offline for a few hours. Chances are most other 'busy' pax will also be fine by choosing to switch off. It ain't healthy being wired 24/7!
You can check if your flight has wifi via:
https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/manage-booking/flight-status.html#/flight-status
A better question will be “How Many Cathay Pacific 777s Have Their Oxygen canisters emptied deliberately?”
@ Ben -- I guess we had bad luck -- 1 of 6 on our travels to Hanoi in May and June.
I flew LAX HKG a few times on CX business in the past 12 months, and used the wifi on the 777. It was very fast and reliable. I did not experience disconnection at all, and were able to send image and video on iMessage. I also flew JAL First for the same route and used their wifi, it was an older generation, and it was slow and often experienced interruption.
On a side note, I flew AA in business for the same route once. Never again!
Meh, wi-fi is about number 27 on my list of priorities for a flight.
Frankly it is good to be offline for a while.
Today’s CX831 is 10 across in economy and wifi enabled
I just did a back to back on the routing HKG-JFK -HKG from the January 1st «sale». I loved the on board entertainment and service, however being of line in 34 hours is a killer. My iPhone looked like a teenager full of zits landing in HKG.
This is a cool video on how they install WiFi antenna on a 777.
https://www.airlive.net/video-how-to-install-a-wifi-antenna-on-a-boeing-777-fuselage/
I flew CX884 on April 6 and wifi was available and I opted for the $19.95 option. It was pretty reliable and had no issues connecting and browsing through Instagram/FB and emails.
Has anyone been able to redeem US Bank Altitude Reserve GoGo passes on CX flights?
@Unnayan Jain
Flew one EWR-HKG and the remote touchscreen was completely busted. Amazing for such a new aircraft. Pretty lackluster service too.
To my surprise, I had wifi on HKG - SFO CX a couple of months ago and I was able to redeem one of my Amex bus plat gogo certs for the service.
@X
This is what I have so far. Took me 35 minutes to get this info from going through SeatGuru and the Wikipedia list of 777 operators.
Airlines with all 9 abreast economy 777:
Air China, Air India, Asiana, Delta, EgyptAir, El Al, Ethiopian, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Pakistan, Singapore, Thai, Turkish, Virgin Australia
Airlines with partial 9 abreast economy 777:
ANA, British, Cathay Pacific, China Southern, EVA Air, JAL, Qatar,...
@X
This is what I have so far. Took me 35 minutes to get this info from going through SeatGuru and the Wikipedia list of 777 operators.
Airlines with all 9 abreast economy 777:
Air China, Air India, Asiana, Delta, EgyptAir, El Al, Ethiopian, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Pakistan, Singapore, Thai, Turkish, Virgin Australia
Airlines with partial 9 abreast economy 777:
ANA, British, Cathay Pacific, China Southern, EVA Air, JAL, Qatar, Saudia, TAAG Angola, United,
Airlines with no 9 abreast economy 777:
Aeroflot, Air Canada, Air France, Air New Zealand, Alitalia, American, Austrian, China Airlines, China Eastern, Emirates, Etihad, KLM, LATAM, Swiss, Ukraine,
I for HKG-JFK in March on four class with 10 across in economy. WiFi was $20 for duration with no limits and very fast/reliable.
Their J product is old but very consistent with great service. I’ll often choose them over AA if going to Asia.
I’m currently on one of the 777, like now :)
Speed is crazy fast, 85+Mbps download!
CX 846, HKG-JFK, registration B-KQV
@DenB ha, I thought the same thing about AA. The only time I've ever put the two carriers into a single sentence is probably saying something like "the best use of AA miles for Asia is flying Cathay."
Dear Lucky,
You could really make a list of B777s still in 3-3-3 today... I feel like humanity onboard those 3-4-3 777s are dumped into the sewer.
Okay, this is weird. Ben's post published April 27, but the comments are from last year.
But the "AA is better" post gave me a good laugh, so it's all good.
@ DenB -- That's because I updated the previous post I published with the new information, rather than publishing a second all new post. This is so that the information in the post is as accurate as possible, rather than keeping a post out there with outdated information.
@Lucky -- I trying to research the same topic as I'm on an upcoming JFK-HKG day flight. Google Flights shows whether a flight has wifi, apparently. Not sure how accurate but 9/10-across economy layout fits with that you outlined above.
Interesting timing bc I just flew yesterday (12/29) jfk-HKG on CX841, 777-3, and was looking for a week to find a tracking site with the WiFi deployment. I couldn’t find anything, but thankfully the flight had excellent WiFi. Speeds were very fast, and outside of the lack of connection while over the poles, I had no interruptions at all. I was in F, so I didn’t see what the economy configuration was.
@Super
I flew one of the upgraded 777s in May in F. The display is *much* higher quality and the display assembly is redesigned. There is also now a touch screen IFE remote. The IFE operating system is the same as the A350. In J, it has the new operating system, but the screen is still the same and quality is still low. I didn’t check what the deal was in Y and PE.
Let's be real. CX offers a horrible hard product.. I now avoid them as much as possible and will pay extra to fly AA 777. AA J offers better IFE, better food, mattress pad, pajamas, decent snacks in gallery.. oh and wifi!! Such a decline in last 3x. It's a shame...
This HK Government site lists all the approved wifi hotspots on public transport (including Cathay planes): https://gbcode.ofca.gov.hk/gb/apps.ofca.gov.hk/apps/clr/content/print_public_enq_veh.asp?lic_id=&veh_type=&re_no=&veh_name=&from_district=0&to_district=0&order_cond=&app_govwifi=
I flew J from HKG-AKL recently on a 777-300ER and Wi-Fi was offered on that flight, much to my surprise. But usually that route is serviced by their A350 so I am wondering whether they made sure to keep Wi-Fi availability on the route to maintain some product consistency? They schedule a 777 during summer months when they have two flights per day.
@Bill, Cathays wifi runs fully unrestricted over Chinese airspace. This is actually better than many carriers, many who must turn it off.
What you refer to is the point CX repeated publicly about the multi-year wifi delay, but it wasn't really the full story. However that delay is over, and all A350s are equipped and 777s being rolled out rapidly.
Anyway, CX's wifi works fully and uncensored even over Chinese airspace; they have a special...
@Bill, Cathays wifi runs fully unrestricted over Chinese airspace. This is actually better than many carriers, many who must turn it off.
What you refer to is the point CX repeated publicly about the multi-year wifi delay, but it wasn't really the full story. However that delay is over, and all A350s are equipped and 777s being rolled out rapidly.
Anyway, CX's wifi works fully and uncensored even over Chinese airspace; they have a special waiver from CAAC. It is actually a competitive advantage, not disadvantage.
I thought I heard that the issue with lack of wifi on CX was something to do with their flying through chinese airspace and the whole censorship by the chinese government thing. Was that just a myth or were some restrictions lifted by the Chinese government?
Lucky.. you haven't covered frequent broken seats on newer CX A350. Would love to hear your thoughts on it
@Jacob McCarthy are these "new" tv screens in F the same as the A350 Business? Looking forward to a higher resolution than 140p in Cathay Pacific First Class...
Greetings from the CX Flyertalk page. Thanks resource was created by a number of us active on the board over there, and is maintained by a dedicated group of folks. It is regularly updated, although not always instantly! Input welcome on two threads below.
-QRC3288
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cathay-pacific-marco-polo-club/1789769-cathay-pacific-fleet-information.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cathay-pacific-marco-polo-club/1943301-flown-cx-b77w-777-300er-lately-please-post-here-777-wi-fi-query.html
Greetings from the CX Flyertalk page. Thanks resource was created by a number of us active on the board over there, and is maintained by a dedicated group of folks. It is regularly updated, although not always instantly! Input welcome on two threads below.
-QRC3288
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cathay-pacific-marco-polo-club/1789769-cathay-pacific-fleet-information.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cathay-pacific-marco-polo-club/1943301-flown-cx-b77w-777-300er-lately-please-post-here-777-wi-fi-query.html
Keep in mind B-KPA B-KPH B-KPP B-KPW B-KQW B-KQM B-KPF B-KPU B-KQU B-KPM B-KPV B-KQV all have the new TV screens, remotes, and IFE operating system in F, and new IFE operating system in J.
I'd argue the lack of wifi is actually an important reason I fly on Cathay's 777s.
BA have a similar document for monitoring Wifi planes. Might be worth sharing: https://goo.gl/eiLB5q
There was a part of me that used to enjoy tuning out the world for 15 hours but it’s now a real hardship and creates a lot of anxiety being entirely incommunicado for so long. When flying CX I avoid flights over the business day in North America and there are more and more acceptable alternatives to CX (with Wi-Fi) appearing all the time. They need to speed this up.