Back in the day, flying Cathay Pacific first class was basically a rite of passage in the miles & points world. At one point, the airline operated 10 flights per day to the United States with first class cabins, with four daily flights to New York alone. Now, in mid-2023, the airline operates at most one flight per day to the United States with a first class cabin.
What’s going on here? Are so many of Cathay Pacific’s planes with first class still grounded, or why are there so few flights with first class? I decided to dig a bit deeper…
In this post:
Cathay Pacific exclusively has first class on select 777s
The first thing to understand is that Cathay Pacific only offers first class on select Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Only a subset of the carrier’s long haul 777s feature this cabin. So you won’t find first class on any other jets, like the Airbus A350.
Pre-pandemic, Cathay Pacific operated 24 Boeing 777s in a four class configuration (with first class). During the pandemic, the airline ended leases on three of these jets, which now fly for Qatar Airways. These planes still have nearly identical interiors, and they offer the same first class hard product. Let’s call it Qatar Pacific first class.
These planes won’t be returning to Cathay Pacific’s fleet, so at most, we’ll see 21 Boeing 777s with first class (well, at least until Cathay Pacific takes delivery of Boeing 777-9s… eventually… maybe).
Cathay Pacific first class is one of my favorite first class products in the world. While it’s not the most private seat out there, it’s such a well-rounded experience.
Which routes feature Cathay Pacific first class?
During the pandemic, Cathay Pacific suspended first class service on all routes:
- The airline grounded most of its 777s, instead focusing on primarily flying Airbus A350s
- There just wasn’t much demand for paid first class, so the airline decided it was more economical to just stop selling the product altogether, to save on staffing, the onboard product, ground services, etc.
With Hong Kong having fully reopened to the world as of late 2022, we saw Cathay Pacific finally resume first class service. However, the airline is only offering first class on a very limited basis.
Currently Cathay Pacific sells first class seats from Hong Kong (HKG) to the following destinations:
- Beijing (PEK)
- London Heathrow (LHR)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Paris (CDG)
- Tokyo Haneda (HND)
The exact frequencies vary, but none of these destinations have more than once daily service with first class, aside from Beijing, which gets up to twice daily service.
Where are all of Cathay Pacific’s 777s with first class?
Honestly, I’m writing this post for my own curiosity, more than anything else, since I love Cathay Pacific first class. Why are we only seeing one flight to the United States per day with first class? Is most of the fleet with first class still grounded, or what?
As mentioned above, Cathay Pacific will have at most 21 Boeing 777-300ERs with first class flying in the future (accounting for the three 777s now flying for Qatar Airways). I was hoping to find that most of these jets were simply grounded, because it would mean that maybe we’ll eventually see a return of the good old days of Cathay Pacific first class. Well, things aren’t looking so good in that regard…
I did some digging, and of those 21 777-300ERs, the following 17 jets are in service:
- B-KPA
- B-KPE
- B-KPI
- B-KPO
- B-KPQ
- B-KPR
- B-KPU
- B-KPW
- B-KPX
- B-KQG
- B-KQH
- B-KQI
- B-KQJ
- B-KQK
- B-KQU
- B-KQV
- B-KQW
Meanwhile the following four jets are in storage (and it’s not clear to me if they’ll return to the skies, or if they’re just grounded permanently):
- B-KPD
- B-KPF
- B-KPV
- B-KQM
So, what’s going on here?
This brings me to my confusion — how are 17 Cathay Pacific 777s with first class cabins flying, yet the airline has so few first class routes currently for sale?!
I looked up the flights associated with the registration codes of these jets, and it seems like a couple of main factors are at play:
- Aircraft utilization on these jets isn’t great; one hasn’t flown since June 1, two haven’t flown since June 3, two haven’t flown since June 9, one hasn’t flown since June 10
- In some cases these planes are being flown to destinations where first class isn’t being sold, but rather business class passengers are being assigned these seats; destinations include Jakarta (CGK), Melbourne (MEL), Singapore (SIN), and more
So yeah, Cathay Pacific doesn’t have as many 777s with first class as pre-pandemic, and even some of the 777s that the carrier still has are grounded. However, Cathay Pacific has 17 777s with first class in service, they’re just being utilized really inefficiently.
I have to say, I do find this all to be a bit puzzling. About 70% as many 777s with first class are in service as pre-pandemic, yet we’re seeing only 10% of the first class capacity to the United States as we saw pre-pandemic.
In fairness, Cathay Pacific is primarily flying A350s to the United States, which have fantastic economics. Is that just the priority going forward, or…?
Bottom line
As a miles & points geek, I sure do miss flying Cathay Pacific first class! I was excited when the airline resumed first class service in late 2022, and was expecting that the service would be ramped up quickly. Unfortunately that’s not how things have played out.
Pre-pandemic, Cathay Pacific offered up to ten daily flights to the United States with first class, while now the airline offers up to one daily flight to the United States with first class.
Cathay Pacific has 17 Boeing 777s with first class in service, though even so, it seems they’re being used really inefficiently. When I started researching this, I was hoping that I’d come to the conclusion that most of these planes were grounded, but that’s not the case.
I was hoping this would be temporary, but it’s increasingly looking to me like widespread Cathay Pacific first class between the United States and Hong Kong might be a thing of the past…
When do you make of Cathay Pacific’s much smaller first class footprint?
Maybe because the planes were retrofitted for the Aria Suites launching 2Q 2024?
These will be on their 777-300ER.
Lucky,
Love your blog and this post. Keep up the good work.
I am a loyal CX DM for many years. To answer some of the questions in your post. Cathay offers a daily flight between HK and Singapore on 4 class configuration 777-300ER hardware. However they do not sell the first class seats. Instead they sell it as a business class seat and upgrade senior diamond members.
I take this flight quite often...
Lucky,
Love your blog and this post. Keep up the good work.
I am a loyal CX DM for many years. To answer some of the questions in your post. Cathay offers a daily flight between HK and Singapore on 4 class configuration 777-300ER hardware. However they do not sell the first class seats. Instead they sell it as a business class seat and upgrade senior diamond members.
I take this flight quite often and *touchwood* always get bumped except for one time when k booked my ticket less than 24hrs ahead.
In terms of US flights, I have never understood the pricing scheme. London first class flights are usually around 10-13k USD pre pandemic and about 20-25% higher post pandemic. Other major European cities that offered first class (primarily Paris and Milan) was about 17-20k USD pre-Covid and again nearly 20% higher now. However US flights are consistently much higher. Used to be 25k+ for LAX and SFO and 30k+ for JFK. I believe post-pandemic it’s again even higher.
LHR is probably the most expensive airport but it’s the cheapest long haul first class. While the US pricing scheme just makes zero sense. It’s mind numbingly overpriced. I think from a revenue generation perspective they should lower the price of US routes first class ticket and raise the difficulty of redemption. Anyway just my notes on CX first class.
I agree with you CX first class while not the snazziest new product in the market, there is just something special about it. I am also Solitaire PPS on SQ and have flown their suites quite frequently. It is the most impressive first class hardware I’ve ever experienced. But with everything considered, I would still choose CX F over SQ Suites without hesitation.
Tried to book first class on CX from LAX-HKG for March 2024, which shows availability on first, but the return HKG-LAX on April 2024 has no availability. Had to change airline because of this inconsistency. Hope CX can get their offerings consistency.
CX 773s are designed with crew rest above the FC cabin. There are no overhead bins - just the closet next to the seat.
CX can't really remove FC from these aircraft without major redo of the cabin.
That’s actually quite a brilliant point although CX definitely has 3 cabin config 77W. Just can’t remember how they deal with the pilot rest area for overhead cabins…
Btw not to be a smartass… 773 refer to the CX 777-300 aircraft for regional flights while the 777-300ER you’re referring to is actually referred to as 77W. Don’t want to be a pain, just sharing some experience / knowledge.
CX has massive debts and needs to concentrate on profits from economy and business class and cargo . First has limited demand.
I wonder if or when Cathay Pacific will be rebranded as Air China HK or Air China XG (with a livery format similar to Air China Inner Mongolia). Or will things just look the same on the outside for brand consistency even despite HK becoming China?
So many businesses have been startled by the erosion of HK freedoms and independence that they’re moving their APAC HQ from HK to Singapore. So it is not surprising that demand is so far down for the F class eligible corporate crowd
I have always felt like HK and SF are twins. Hilly, dense, lack of land, expensive, great income disparity, surrounded by water, next to a large bay, near a large tech hub, lack of seasons, often cloudy, far from anywhere that snows, and the Chinese there almost all speak Cantonese (at least traditionally). Both cities were historically significant, peaking in the 80s and 90s especially, but are now firmly in decline, being supplanted by more...
I have always felt like HK and SF are twins. Hilly, dense, lack of land, expensive, great income disparity, surrounded by water, next to a large bay, near a large tech hub, lack of seasons, often cloudy, far from anywhere that snows, and the Chinese there almost all speak Cantonese (at least traditionally). Both cities were historically significant, peaking in the 80s and 90s especially, but are now firmly in decline, being supplanted by more attractive cities elsewhere. Both cities became considerably more violent over the last couple of years (although violence before that was not unheard of either). And now both cities are experiencing a mass corporate exodus.
@Brianair, I agree with many of your points about HK and SG being twin cities. You could also add they both have world-class airports with no domestic flights.
I agree HK is in decline with many people leaving the city over the last 5 years following violent protests and the gradual but constant integration back into mainland China.
I disagree Singapore is in decline, or has seen recent violence. It may have peaked as...
@Brianair, I agree with many of your points about HK and SG being twin cities. You could also add they both have world-class airports with no domestic flights.
I agree HK is in decline with many people leaving the city over the last 5 years following violent protests and the gradual but constant integration back into mainland China.
I disagree Singapore is in decline, or has seen recent violence. It may have peaked as a global business hub but it remains one of the safest cities in the world, and remains an attractive option for corporate headquarters.
He said SF not SG
I said SF (San Francisco). While Hong Kong and Singapore might have similarities in that they are both city states that are financial hubs and have a large presence of Chinese language and culture, they do have plenty of differences. For instance, Singapore is much flatter. The dominant Chinese languages there are Mandarin and Southern Min dialects. The environment is more comfortably tropical year round and feels more like an LA or Miami. Right now...
I said SF (San Francisco). While Hong Kong and Singapore might have similarities in that they are both city states that are financial hubs and have a large presence of Chinese language and culture, they do have plenty of differences. For instance, Singapore is much flatter. The dominant Chinese languages there are Mandarin and Southern Min dialects. The environment is more comfortably tropical year round and feels more like an LA or Miami. Right now their situation is pretty much the opposite of HK. SG is definitely on the rise and part of that is unfortunately at the expense of HK. At one point Hong Kong and Singapore were rivals on the same level as each other and you could more easily compare the two, but by now, it’s safe to say that Singapore has basically replaced HK for all intents and purposes.
Singapore has definitely eclipsed HK in terms of future prospects. The rents in SG right now are absolutely insane, much to the chagrin of this former resident itching to move back!
Very astute comparison although I would move the peak decades to include the 00s as well. Remember after dot com bubble, SF came back in full swing just as HK came back booking post SARS.
I am one of those who went to uni near SF and spent many years of childhood and career in HK, but finally moved to SG. While I certainly agree with most of what you said, I still think SG...
Very astute comparison although I would move the peak decades to include the 00s as well. Remember after dot com bubble, SF came back in full swing just as HK came back booking post SARS.
I am one of those who went to uni near SF and spent many years of childhood and career in HK, but finally moved to SG. While I certainly agree with most of what you said, I still think SG has no desire nor will it be able to overtake HK in terms of capital markets within the next decade. I think SG’s takeover from HK will be private wealth sector in the financial industry and some fortune 500’s Asia HQ. However SG is also limited by its own geography. Eye watering high rental prices, prohibitively high stamp duty on property for foreigners, insanely high import duty and licensing costs on cars, and generally high living costs still makes SG hard to replace HK in many aspects.
SG will be more welcoming for senior management and bosses while HK will be more welcoming for middle management and professionals. Don’t get me started on the pain of good staffing in Singapore…
There are plenty a Cathay 777 still parked at Alice Springs.
Also, this is no different to how CX utilised 747s in markets they didn’t sell first class! Bali was one I recall flying in a first class seat but with business class service.
You have not considered the fact that they probably operate first class on routes where people are more likely to pay for it. Furthermore, it is not just about the pandemic but the use of Russian airspace when considering some destinations such as Europe or the US.
As the answer always is to the question of “why isn’t there more F available” it comes down to a focus on profitability and the lack of profits that F generates relative to the square footage the seats take up and the other capital it requires. Flying more efficient planes like the A350 to hold down costs and focusing on J and PE tickets, where the money is made, is what CX’s shareholders are going to be focused on after years of a skeleton network
What a privilege to fly Cathay F 4 times in my life. 2 were part of the Vietnam to USA mistake fare and the 3rd being part of the miles I got from the round trip. 3 legs in F for $1100 total. This was once in a lifetime opportunity.
I used the Alaska miles to fly the 4th flight.
I will miss CX first class and if I get a chance will fly again on points, can’t afford the fiat fare.
Thanks for this article.
Most of us here are only looking at the American side of things for demand, completely neglecting what’s happening in the east. CX is flying their 77Ws to predominantly Asian destinations because of the significant demand on intra Asian travels to destinations like Korea, Japan, Maldives and Southeast Asia. An uptick in leisure travellers flying J combines with the reconfiguration of these planes in Y to 10 abreast means they are the best fit for...
Most of us here are only looking at the American side of things for demand, completely neglecting what’s happening in the east. CX is flying their 77Ws to predominantly Asian destinations because of the significant demand on intra Asian travels to destinations like Korea, Japan, Maldives and Southeast Asia. An uptick in leisure travellers flying J combines with the reconfiguration of these planes in Y to 10 abreast means they are the best fit for such operations. Prices for intra Asia flights are obscene now, surpassing even some trans pacific ones, it’s stupid for an airline not to capitalise on it. Even SQ took away its 388s for kangaroo and intra Asia routes. That shows where business is at.
Lucky, Cathay will be starting flights to Chicago in October of this year. Any idea which planes and classes of service they will be having for that route?
Sorry, meant to say returning, not starting.
You mean resuming ;) And it'll be on the A351.
https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230515-cxoct23ord?rq=cathay%20chicago
Resuming, returning, lol
So no First Class on that route…oh well.
Thanks for this great article Ben, I was also very curious about this as I see 777s scheduled to SYD but ages ago CX went all in to a350s to all Aussie airports - was wondering what was up with that. I cannot understand how JFK doesn't warrant an F product given the fact that there are 3 flights a day. Would love to know more about their strategy/decision making.
Most of the companies that previously flew in the F cabin on HKG-JFK or HKG-SYD moved their regional APAC HQ to Singapore and are now regulars on Singapore Suites, First, or Business. SQ is killing it on intercontinental routes at CX and HK's expense.
In J the A350 is a much better option because the cabins and seats are much newer.
It may still be called Cathay Pacific, but it is really trending to become
"Air China (HK)"
The fact that Beijing, less than 3 hours away, is now the only destination with 2 daily frequencies in F, speaks louder than any rethoric: The CCP honchos could probably fly in Government Business jets, but not with the same comfort and in such luxury.
Actually, Air China holds about a third of the stocks of CX, making it the second largest shareholder of the company after its parent company, Swire
I'd be happy if they just released a reasonable amount of space to partners in Business!
The morning SIN-HKG is operated with first class seats, but not sure sold or not
@Ben - are you searching for CX awards? If so, where? I can’t find anything using AA. (I’m getting an error message when I try.)
I have not seen a successful search on aa.com, where the origin or destination was HKG. This has been the case for 2 years. Alaska will allow searches to/from HKG but of course their availability is different. If there's a hack to make aa.com work for HKG searches, I'd love to learn about it.
Flying LAX-HKG in January '24 in F. Booked it this past February about 330 days out using AA miles.
I've seen a fair amount of availability on CDG-HKG the past few weeks, FWIW. But I don't think we're going to see the good old days of widespread availability ever again. And I do miss the 5th freedom from JFK to YVR, was a great way to get to my relatives in BC, even though it arrived late at night and everything in Vancouver closes early.
This is why I love this blog! Such a great article
HKG is not even close to pre pandemic busy. I would guess CX activated too many 777 in anticipation of a return to normal. Now they just need to cycle all the planes enough to keep they airworthy all the time.
Thanks for looking it! I was super curious as well. What I wouldn’t give to be back in Cathay F!
At this rate I would just settle for some J awards on JFK-HKG. I don’t see any space being released…. I would love to know if anyone has seen differently.
No flights from HKG across Russia to US East Coast. Therefore taking the longer route with A350s
Why on Earth would CX be prevented from using Russian Air Space?
HK is now China, Russia's best buddy. And I do not really see HK getting even by denying Russia the use of HK Air Space which actually never existed. How does one defins Air Space for a "country" or "zone" which can be overflown at its widest in less than 2 minutes?
Probably due to consistency with the West and perhaps due to the likely presence of American passengers on board...
A lot of flights heading from China to the US are getting unofficial bans from the US to use Russian airspace even if DOT haven't published anything officially. Allegedly if the flight has entered Russian airspace on the way to the US it will not be allowed to land.
Cathay does overfly Russia, though only sporadically on flights from the East Coast to Hong Kong (and not the other way around).
Most F-cabin seats are sold to select corporate customers at J prices. Corporate traffic to Asia hasn’t returned and so there’s no reason they should fly these planes to the US when they have higher density planes to use.
If longhaul corporate traffic never returns to pre-pandemic rates then we could see a real shift in product and density of premium cabins to support the new world economics.
Something doesn’t reconcile with the numbers above…Qatar has 4 ex-CX flying at the moment with a further 2 on its way (the fifth one has already been ferried to Doha but not yet flying). So QR will have a total of 6 ex-CX 77Ws flying soon…as I understand these are not “leased” from CX but rather from the lessor i.e. the 6 frames won’t actually be returning to CX.
Maybe with such an extended lockdown, the supply chain and FA's trained in First Class service have been lost? HKG changed during the pandemic so the demand also might not be there at the same levels.
Also omg I'm Diamond status with OMAAT now!!
Ahead of us all. Actually, Super Diamond. A new level.
I can't wait to become 'Lifetime Diamond' :)
Most importantly when is the Pier First opening? I see rumors of “mid 2023.”