In late 2024, we saw Cathay Pacific launch its new Aria Suite business class. I’ve had the chance to fly it, and it’s a phenomenal product. Cathay Pacific is a world class airline, and this really elevates the carrier’s business class to being among the best in the world.
As is the case with any new product, the challenge is the lengthy rollout, as actually retrofitting aircraft with a new product can take years. With that in mind, we’re continuing to see this product introduced on more planes. The plane has now been scheduled to operate to the United States for the first time.
In this post, I want to go over the current status of that. Let me recap all the details, including which planes have the Aria Suite product, and which routes the planes regularly fly.
In this post:
Which planes have Cathay Pacific Aria Suite seats?
Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite business class is debuting on Boeing 777-300ERs. Specifically, the airline is reconfiguring its entire fleet of long haul 777s with these new cabins, and hopes to finish this project by the end of 2027.
There are no firm plans to retrofit this product on other long haul aircraft, including the Airbus A330, Airbus A350, etc. Furthermore, regional Boeing 777s won’t be getting these cabins. However, this is also the product we’ll find on the carrier’s new Boeing 777-9s, once those are delivered (the aircraft has already been delayed by at least seven years due to certification issues).
As it currently stands, 10 Cathay Pacific 777-300ERs have been reconfigured with the new cabins. This includes the planes with the following registration codes:
Cathay Pacific is reconfiguring planes in Xiamen (XMN), and it seems that each jet takes around seven weeks to get interior overhauls, which is quite a long time. For what it’s worth, B-KQQ appears to be the 11th plane that is getting new cabins, and it should reenter service soon.
Which routes feature Cathay Pacific Aria Suite seats?
Which routes is Cathay Pacific currently operating with its Aria Suite Boeing 777-300ERs, and which future routes are scheduled to feature the product? Keep in mind that airlines adjust their schedules over time, particularly with the switches between IATA summer and winter seasons (which happen in late October and late March of each year).
For the IATA winter season, you’ll currently find planes with the Aria Suite cabins scheduled to operate flights between Hong Kong (HKG) and the following destinations:
- Frankfurt (FRA) — daily on the CX289/288 rotation
- London (LHR) — daily on the CX255/250 rotation
- Melbourne (MEL) — daily on the CX163/178 rotation
- Sydney (SYD) — daily on the CX101/100 rotation
- Vancouver (YVR) — daily on the CX888/865 rotation
On top of that, you’ll find planes with the Aria Suite product operating select frequencies to Bangkok (BKK) and Sapporo (CTS), though there’s significant variation based on the day of the week and month.
We’ve now also seen the airline schedule the Aria Suite product on a route to the United States for the first time. As of January 3, 2026, the airline plans to fly a reconfigured plane on the San Francisco (SFO) route, 3x weekly, on the CX872/873 rotation. It’s nice to finally see the plane make its US debut.
Let me of course add the disclaimer that aircraft assignments are always subject to change, and you’ll want to consult the seat map for the flight you’re looking to book, to confirm that it’s expected to feature the Aria Suite. Furthermore, the above assignments apply through the end of the IATA winter 2025-2026 travel schedule, which goes through late March 2026. Aircraft assignments haven’t consistently been updated beyond that.
What are the best ways to verify that a route features Aria Suite seats?
- If you look up a flight on Google Flights, it’ll show as having an “Individual suite” product in business class if it has Aria Suite, rather than showing as having a “Lie flat seat”
- If you look up a flight on Cathay Pacific’s website, you’ll see the aircraft type listed, so click on that, and if the plane features Aria Suite, the seat map will specifically say there are “45 Aria suites”
- If you look at a seat map, you’ll see that the 777-300ER with the Aria Suite product has 45 business class seats, rather than 40; you’ll notice that the plane has seats in row 14 (unlike the non-Aria Suite product), and also has four seats in row 20 (unlike the non-Aria Suite product, where there are just two seats)
If you’re looking to redeem miles for this product, keep in mind that Cathay Pacific’s own program has access to the most award space, so that’s how you’d want to book.
Bottom line
Cathay Pacific currently has 10 Boeing 777-300ERs equipped with the new Aria Suite business class product, and plans to reconfigure all 777-300ERs by the end of 2027.
Currently, you’ll consistently find the planes flying from Hong Kong to Frankfurt, London, Melbourne, Sydney, and Vancouver, with San Francisco service starting in early 2026. You can expect more routes to get the new product as time goes on, but with each plane taking nearly two months to be reconfigured, it’s not exactly a fast process.
What do you make of Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite routes?
Starting 1/1/26, HKG-HND will also receive Aria Suites on daily basis (CX 548/549).
Does anyone know when the trans-Pac routes (HKG-SFO, HKG-LAX) will get these suites?
Article says SFO in early 2026, aeroroutes cites Jan 2nd/3rd start date for 3x weekly on SFO
Darn, my HKG-LAX flight in June will be on the A350. How does an airline decide which routes get which planes? Is it all down to number of passengers, or are there many other factors? And how likely might a route that flies the A350 now get switched to the 777 beyond a temporary equipment swap?
Passenger demand and yields. I am a little surprised flagship routes like JFK haven't gotten it yet.
I imagine LAX will get it eventually, the rollout has just been very delayed.
There's additional factors like aircraft scheduling and capacity too.
I think JFK is also getting 350 on some flights.
I was initially surprised that Sydney and Melbourne both figured in the rollout, but perhaps shouldn't have been (although MEL seems to have dropped off the rotation in January). They have four and three daily flights to HKG respectively (SYD 1xA350, 3xB777, MEL 1 and 2) and have significant connecting and O&D traffic. The Aria flight is a mid-afternoon departure, late evening arrival, with a bank of connecting flights from HKG. SYD/MEL to Europe isn't...
I was initially surprised that Sydney and Melbourne both figured in the rollout, but perhaps shouldn't have been (although MEL seems to have dropped off the rotation in January). They have four and three daily flights to HKG respectively (SYD 1xA350, 3xB777, MEL 1 and 2) and have significant connecting and O&D traffic. The Aria flight is a mid-afternoon departure, late evening arrival, with a bank of connecting flights from HKG. SYD/MEL to Europe isn't any less convenient than any other itinerary, to North America the flight time is longer but worth the upgrade in service.
I got to try the Aria suite on CX100 earlier this week, with an onward flight in the old seat. Very impressed with the new.
I hope those who celebrate had a good holiday.
Aircraft without First Class should be much easier to reconfigure as it doesn't require much shuffling and rejigging compared to aircraft with First Class.
LAX and JFK will eventually get their turn, I just wonder what exact flights will get them.
What I'm really looking forward to is what they come up with for the A330s as well as the A350. I hope we'll...
I hope those who celebrate had a good holiday.
Aircraft without First Class should be much easier to reconfigure as it doesn't require much shuffling and rejigging compared to aircraft with First Class.
LAX and JFK will eventually get their turn, I just wonder what exact flights will get them.
What I'm really looking forward to is what they come up with for the A330s as well as the A350. I hope we'll know soon as 2026 is literally weeks away. By then, the latter would be ripe for their annual refurbishment.