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, so 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, nine 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-KPI appears to be the 10th plane that is getting new cabins, while B-KQQ appears to be the 11th plane.
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.
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 nine 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. 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?
I flew on B-KQL from HKG to MNL yesterday (27 Oct 2025). As you'll see from the article, that route is not on the list. The cabin crew told me that it was a late change of equipment. They weren't expecting the Aria Suite. I don't know who was more excited about it, them or me!
Very telling that Cathay is not flying its most premium product to USA. America is dead to the world, thanks to its sycophantic support of genocidal Israel and its love for child rapists like Epstein
CX currently have issues adding their membership on a ticket after booking.
Ben should cover this CX issue of not being able to modify FFP due to 'security' excuse.
It's telling that Cathay isn't prioritizing this on any US routes right now... wonder why... could just be a fluke, right? (Yeah, sure... that's the ticket!)
This is just a hypothesis of mine, but it can be due to a myriad of factors. 1, as the US is a premium market, they don't have enough aircraft to keep up with the amount of frequencies they have; they want to make sure they utilize the aircraft consistently. For example, you don't want a frame with the new product on a frequency to LAX for example and when the same frame goes tech...
This is just a hypothesis of mine, but it can be due to a myriad of factors. 1, as the US is a premium market, they don't have enough aircraft to keep up with the amount of frequencies they have; they want to make sure they utilize the aircraft consistently. For example, you don't want a frame with the new product on a frequency to LAX for example and when the same frame goes tech for whatever reason, you get stuck with an aircraft that has the older product.
2. They want to make sure any potential defects and issues are rectified.
I'm sure there's more to it than what I've stated above.
Mike O., that's a rational hypothesis, and quite thoughtful, if true.
(Cathay management: "The Americans value 'consistency,' so let's send the 'old cabins' to them, while we work out 'the kinks' on these brand new, beautiful, more luxurious ones...")
Alternatively, I guess it's still relatively early on a Sunday, so the O.G. conspiracy theorists are sleeping in (or at church, bah!) Perhaps, they'd say, war in Eastasia, soon. That's what Xi said...