It looks like a Russian charter airline will be introducing a first class product, thanks to some aircraft acquisitions.
Continue reading: Swoon: Russia’s Azur Air Launches First Class With Former Cathay Pacific 777s
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I've never flown a Russian airline, but I have to imagine their service standards are... not quite on par with Cathay Pacific. Would be an odd experience to be in CX First without their service.
As an aside - while I recognize that there are a lot of other First Classes that are factually better than CX (ANA's massive TV screens, Singapore's First Suites, etc.), I still miss flying with Cathay the most? There's an X factor that you can't exactly quantify that Cathay has, and a lot of others don't.
Agree that CX first seat is special. Perhaps it is due to the extra width of the seat? I wonder if Qantas first class feels similar but have not flown them yet.
Qantas F seat feel like a bigger space in terms of square footage but if memory serves me correctly, seat itself isn’t as wide. Food doesn’t compare of course. CX is better by a large margin.
Emirates first / business class area the best. Seats, function, service on board, plus first class fully closed and private.
Let me join love fest for CX. Have rebooked JFK-HKG-FRA(-IAD/LH) for next May. FBoFW booked using Alaska miles so much value, but still have 125,000 Asiamiles expiring in Oct. so redo Birthday RTW JFK-HKG-HND 🙂
Then add HND-HKG-LHR. For 90K
On subject of flying Russian, I’ll pass and likewise above will probably be final on Cathay 🙁
I think you may also find that one of the three 777’s that are being delivered to Azur Air is a former Virgin Australia 777 VH-VOZ. The frame has spent some time in Singapore undergoing maintenance in recent months, and in late June was ferried to Istanbul.
Miami service Will actually be announced very shortly. Will start in December.
Their first, maybe, but their business class? Not so much, quite a few business class products out their that surpass it. Especially their non-A380 business class.
Flew CX 77W's a number of times, and while the cabin interiors always felt a little bit dated, color-scheme wise, they were nice rides and service was always very good.
Always good to see great airplanes go one to new operators, though I'd never want to fly on a Russian airline. Poor safety records going back decades.
Three incidents so far this year ( https://www.aeroinside.com/airline/azur-air) is something to think about.
I think their decision to give a try with F is understandable and relatively low risk. As you say, there are just 6 F seats which are occupying a relatively small area. If they can't sell them at a premium with a F style product, it's probably still more economical to keep the seats and use them for BusinessPlus, as Rossyia does.
But I'm really surprised they are keeping the very large J and W compartments and do not increase the size of Y. Given their business model is to fly large tourist groups to popular destinations.
Sounds like an amazing trip. Going westward should help with the time zone transitions, too. Fingers crossed everything will be back to normal by then.
That was my only complaint about CX F, too. Swap out some materials for modern textures and get a proper HD screen and you’re golden.