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It’s not been a smooth ride for Cathay Pacific recently with pilot issues (amongst other things) delaying routes and the deployment of their new Airbus A350. Now, in a recent schedule update, Cathay Pacific has officially pushed back the date on which their first Airbus A350 will enter service.
At the beginning of February Cathay Pacific began scheduling their aircraft to work a few short-haul routes from 1 May but the recent schedule change has seen that timeline moved to 1 June 2016.
Cathay Pacific’s first Airbus A350 in production – Image courtesy of Airbus
The schedules of the flights remains the same, it’s just that the date service will commence has been moved by a month.
Hong Kong – Manila
CX901 HKG 09:00 – 11:15 MNL (Daily)
CX900 MNL 12:25 – 14:50 HKG (Daily)
Hong Kong – Taipei
From 1 June 2016 the A350 will operate the Hong Kong – Taipei route 5 to 6 times per week. While the flight numbers for the Airbus A350 flights appear to remain constant on this route, the days on which the aircraft will fly the route vary…so check the schedules carefully if you’re planning to book one of these flights.
CX400 HKG 16:15 – 18:15 TPE
CX409 TPE 19:20 – 21:10 HKG
What We Know About The Cathay Pacific A350
Cathay Pacific has confirmed that it expects to take delivery of 12 Airbus A350 aircraft in 2016, all of which will feature all-new business, premium economy and economy class products.
Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class
While the products are said to be new, the Business Class cabin is still expected to be based around the existing, and very successful, reverse herringbone layout.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Seat
The Business Class cabin will still be set out in a 1-2-1 layout giving all seats direct access to the aircraft’s aisles – a must for any modern Business Class cabin.
Cathay Pacific are keeping tight-lipped about the changes they’re putting through but reports say that customers can expect to see improvements in storage space, the ability to move the tray table forward and back and a degree of tilt for the large HD video screen (something I wish American Airlines would do).
Cathay Pacific A350 Premium Economy
We still don’t have a seat map for the Cathay Pacific A350 but sources have confirmed that the aircraft will come with a Premium Economy cabin in which seats are expected to get a little more leg room (that’s a big bonus).
In addition, all the seats in the Premium Economy cabin are expected to come with a padded swing up leg rest which should make sleeping easier/more comfortable. In Cathay Pacific’s older Premium Economy cabins only the seats in the front row of the cabin come with such leg rests.
Cathay Pacific Premium Economy seats showing the padded swing up leg rest
Cathay Pacific A350 WiFi
Cathay’s new aircraft will come fitted with inflight internet (which I will get exited about only when I’ve seen the cost!). This will be the first of the airline’s international aircraft to offer internet connectivity and it will be interesting to see just how well it works.
Bottom Line
I’m watching the developments with the Cathay Pacific A350 very closely as I’m currently booked to fly on the aircraft in September.
Fortunately I’m using American Airlines AAdvantage miles for my trip (as part of my pre-devaluation spending spree) so, should the A350 come up against any further delays that sees my aircraft get changed, I can bail out of the trip quite easily.
