Hello from South Korea, as I start the return journey of my review trip. I just flew Cathay Pacific’s Airbus A321neo business class, on the 2hr50min morning flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to Seoul Incheon (ICN).
Cathay Pacific started flying the A321neo in 2021, and as time goes on, it’ll become an increasingly large part of the carrier’s fleet. I’ve gotta be honest, it feels kind of weird to board a narrow body jet on Cathay Pacific, because I’m so used to the airline only flying wide body jets pre-pandemic.
While I’m not sure I really understand Cathay Pacific’s regional business class seat, this flight was awesome for such a short daytime service, with a lovely soft product, including friendly service. In this post I want to share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report.
In this post:
Cathay Pacific’s A321neo business class seats confuse me
Before we even talk about the inside of the aircraft, can I just mention how beautiful Cathay Pacific’s livery looks on the Airbus A321neo? What a stunner!
Anyway, Cathay Pacific’s A321neos have 12 business class seats, spread across three rows, in a 2-2 configuration. This plane is designed for regional routes, so there are no flat beds, but instead there are recliners.
Specifically, the seats have a hard shell concept, so if the person in front of you reclines, they don’t intrude on your space in any way. Cathay Pacific has long been into this hard shell concept, though this particular seat is new to the airline.
Cathay Pacific isn’t alone with having these kinds of seats, though I don’t really get them. On the one hand, on a daytime flight I quite like them compared to a traditional recliner seat, since no one reclines into your space. But that’s largely because I’m someone who almost never sleeps if I don’t have a flat bed.
On the other hand, the problem is that when you recline the seat into the cradle position, it feels a little bit like sitting in a dentist’s chair. The below picture shows the full recline. What I don’t get is, where are my feet supposed to go when I recline this far, since they hit the hard shell of the seat in front?
So I’d absolutely avoid this seat on an overnight flight, or on a flight where I need to rest. However, on a short daytime flight, I found it to be perfectly comfortable. The Bamford bedding also helped with just generally getting cozy.
I’m just puzzled why Cathay Pacific keeps doubling down on this seating concept on regional routes, rather than introducing the Collins Aerospace Diamond seat (like on the Korean Air A321neo, Starlux Airlines A321neo, etc.), which only takes up a little more space, due to efficiently using the space to the seat in front.
Cathay Pacific’s A321neo business class tech is great, in theory
So many airlines are improving their tech nowadays, and Cathay Pacific is no exception. The A3221neo has plenty of charging ports, and a crisp 15.6″ 4K television, with a huge selection of entertainment, includng movies, TV shows a map feature, and more. There’s even bluetooth audio.
Cathay Pacific’s A321neos also have Wi-Fi, which is free for business class passengers. However, the Wi-Fi wasn’t working on this flight, despite the crew trying to reset it. I’m not sure how common of an issue that is.
Cathay Pacific’s food & service are awesome
When you’re flying a narrow body on a short haul flight within Asia, you can’t help but think to yourself “why can’t we have nice things like this in the United States?”
The crew working this flight was excellent, with the cabin manager and a second flight attendant working business class, which made for a very good flight attendant to passenger ratio. There were of course menus, warm towels, pre-departure drinks, personal greetings, etc.
Breakfast was served on this flight, and that started with a fruit plate, some yogurt, and a selection from the pastry basket. I had a cappuccino to drink.
There was also a selection of cereal, and I had some granola. For the main course I selected the Korean galbi jim, which was braised beef with chestnut and radish, spinach, bean sprouts, and multigrain rice. Maybe the presentation wasn’t amazing, but it tasted great.
Bottom line
I finally had my first flight on one of Cathay Pacific’s narrow body aircraft, and it was a nice experience. While I don’t love the shell seats in business class, that’s not an issue on a daytime flight, though I would avoid this aircraft on a redeye. Beyond that, it was a very good flight, with friendly service, tasty food, and impressive amenities for such a short journey.
If you’ve flown Cathay Pacific’s A321neo business class, what was your experience like?
Can you confirm that these are Collins Aerospace Air Rest seats customized by JPA Design?
BTW, it would be great if you could include seat manufacturer information in your OUTSTANDING reviews!
It seems roughly comparable to their existing regional business class on A330, which I never found very comfortable.
Pretty much every time I fly in / to / from Asia, it makes me sad that US-based airlines are so, so much worse. Even random economy-class short-haul on Singapore or Thai is on par (service, often food) with my best domestic experiences in the US.
I don't think those seats are competitive - with SQ offering lie-flat seats on their 737Max, and others also offering flat...
I personally hate shell seats - they are torture for tall people as there is no room for your legs when you try to recline.
I make an effort to avoid those seats, in any cabin class...
Did you try to use the Bluetooth? Did it work well?
The hard product seems a bit like the old AF PE seat. Instead of reclining, it sort of just straightens out inside the hard shell. Super uncomfortable.
this product isn't the worst but compared to Aria Suite it is disappointing. probably will stick to widebodies on intra-Asia
I have flown the 321 Neo configuration 8 times. I usually get on the old lay down from BKK to HK. From there, off to Taiwan on the Neo. It’s fine if you fly with a partner. I prefer the window seat, but you will be asking your seatmate to get up if you need to use the loo. It’s good for daytime flights. If you are in an aisle seat, items will be passed...
I have flown the 321 Neo configuration 8 times. I usually get on the old lay down from BKK to HK. From there, off to Taiwan on the Neo. It’s fine if you fly with a partner. I prefer the window seat, but you will be asking your seatmate to get up if you need to use the loo. It’s good for daytime flights. If you are in an aisle seat, items will be passed over you. I will fly the Neo again from HK to Taiwan mid March. It’s not my favorite. You can schedule the lay down from BKK to HK but the Neo is it for Taiwan. Their “free” wifi doesn’t exist. I have had it twice in 8 flights. You will definitely not have wifi on the old lay down Boeing. Your only chance at wifi in business is in the 321 regional. It’s 2025. Singapore Air wifi is free for all classes in all flights. You get high status points and 6000-7000 miles on the short hop regional though.
Some time ago, I’m going to guess 15 years or so, Cathy used this concept in economy. It was a massive failure - extremely uncomfotable and very unkind to your back.
They retired those seats very quickly.
I hope the design and seat technology has changed since
2006, so about 19 years or so.
https://crankyflier.com/2006/09/28/cathay-pacifics-new-coach-seats/
The difference with those seats and current regional recliners would be that only the seat cushion on the seat back and seat pan "slides" for lack of a better word. With the current recliners, the entire seat reclines within the shell.
ANA still has said seats. And I would say JAL's domestic first and premium economy classes and Air France's premium economy are shell-based designs. I would...
2006, so about 19 years or so.
https://crankyflier.com/2006/09/28/cathay-pacifics-new-coach-seats/
The difference with those seats and current regional recliners would be that only the seat cushion on the seat back and seat pan "slides" for lack of a better word. With the current recliners, the entire seat reclines within the shell.
ANA still has said seats. And I would say JAL's domestic first and premium economy classes and Air France's premium economy are shell-based designs. I would assume they're popular or there are no complaints since they keep using them.
Really don't like these regional seats. I usually just opt for an exit row seat, which has even more legroom, if it's being served by these seats. I'd only opt for J if it's longer than 2 hours and on a lie flat (not so much for the lie flat, but for more leg room).
Ben! I'm GERMAN and live in US! I am flying to Germany this summer through Chicago and Frankfurt!
Ben, could one sleep in these planes or would you just slide off of it when reclined? thats kinda what it looks like... :)
@ John -- I'm not even sure one would slide, as it's not angled flat, or anything. It's a bit like being in a dentist's chair, so imagine sleeping in that, in terms of comfort (though hopefully minus the cavity anxiety).
Remember, the neos were destined for Dragon before they eventually got absorbed by CX, so the aircraft, along with the seats and other finishings, was procured way in advance.
It's too bad that you didn't snag a seat on the right-hand side of the a/c as you would've had some great views of downtown and possibly a parallel departure.
Between the neo and Aria, I'm sure the colours and finishes are a bit nuanced?!
@ Mike O. -- True that they were bound for Cathay Dragon, though in fairness, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon long had the same regional interiors, so I'm not convinced Cathay Pacific would've necessarily chosen different interiors. I'm curious what new flat bed regional business class Cathay Pacific comes up with, as that's reportedly being worked on.
And yeah, regarding the takeoff, I chose the last available window seat, which was on the left side.
Unfortunately, COVID screwed things up for the industry, so who knows how CX would look today if it were not for COVID? I doubt CX would've even operated narrow-bodies. As Dragon was a regional subsidiary a la SilkAir, I would say that a simple recliner would've been appropriate. Ditto with Thai/Thai Smile.
Maybe for their next refurb if they're intent on keeping the narrow-bodies long-term, beds would be in order.
But yes, fortunately CX...
Unfortunately, COVID screwed things up for the industry, so who knows how CX would look today if it were not for COVID? I doubt CX would've even operated narrow-bodies. As Dragon was a regional subsidiary a la SilkAir, I would say that a simple recliner would've been appropriate. Ditto with Thai/Thai Smile.
Maybe for their next refurb if they're intent on keeping the narrow-bodies long-term, beds would be in order.
But yes, fortunately CX will be going with a lie-flat seat for their upcoming A330s, both ceo and neo. And since they plan on having one product across the board, I would like to think they'll be going for all aisle access. And if they really want to be consistent, they can go for another reverse herringbone product, albeit a more compact/dense version sans door.
The blanket looks filthy. Poor choice of colour. Looks like a soiled baby blanket.
Our understanding at the time of the neo order was that this was to be the new group regional seat. So it wasn't as such a "Dragon" product. By the end Dragon's hard product was closely aligned with CX.
Do they actually fly these on overnight routes?
E39 -- Not many now, but I imagine that as the fleet continues to grow, they'll operate more intra-Asia redeyes, just like the rest of the fleet. After all, Cathay Pacific has several redeyes with regional wide bodies that don't have flat beds.
Yeah it doesn't seem competitive for a narrowbody business class product imo.
The standard for Asia is CI/JX/KE style 2-2 lieflat. But I'm hoping we'll start seeing the more premium 1-1 style cabins that B6/IB/EL have as well. I know the ME carriers are looking into it
You also have to remember, the said carriers are full-service carriers. Even though CX is a full-service carriers, Dragon was a regional subsidiary at the time. So Dragon's competition would probably be the likes of Thai Smile, Bangkok Airways, etc.
Sure, except now Cathay Dragon doesn't even exist and this is considered a mainline aircraft for Cathay.
Cathay does very much do directly compete w/ the ones I mentioned, especially so with CI/JX on TPE-HKG, the single busiest international route in the world.
While CI runs some of their TPE-HKG frequencies using A321neo with flat seats, there's also a number of frequencies running B738 with standard recliners. BR uses a mix B78X with flatbeds and A321 with standard recliners. For HKG-ICN, KE/OZ also runs some of their frequencies with angled flat A333s.
So I do agree that while in the long term (and on longer overnight routes that used to be run with KA A333s) this product...
While CI runs some of their TPE-HKG frequencies using A321neo with flat seats, there's also a number of frequencies running B738 with standard recliners. BR uses a mix B78X with flatbeds and A321 with standard recliners. For HKG-ICN, KE/OZ also runs some of their frequencies with angled flat A333s.
So I do agree that while in the long term (and on longer overnight routes that used to be run with KA A333s) this product might not be competitive, but in the current market, it seems...fine?
I guess in East Asia you're really spoiled for choice and you can easily select the frequency with the product you prefer (especially on a route like HKG-TPE that has hourly departures).
Cathay Dragon, or Dragonair before that, is also a full-service Carrier, even if it was a regional subsidiary.
Exactly, Dragonair also had first class on their A330.
Full-service carrier, but optimized for regional operations.
I would say that they were competitive, if not the best, considering who they were up against in the region; you really can't beat a full meal and an extensive IFE selection on a daytime flight! Add in CXs own operation, where you would get a 744, A340, or 77W.
They should've at least gone with an angled lie-flat seat similar to what you would get on, say,...
Full-service carrier, but optimized for regional operations.
I would say that they were competitive, if not the best, considering who they were up against in the region; you really can't beat a full meal and an extensive IFE selection on a daytime flight! Add in CXs own operation, where you would get a 744, A340, or 77W.
They should've at least gone with an angled lie-flat seat similar to what you would get on, say, SQ a decade or two ago.
The only redeye flights I can think of were their flights to India and the late-night flight to Haneda, which was definitely brutal without a bed. IIRC, there was no competition on the 2 Indian flights while the late Haneda flight was competing with LCCs.