Cathay Pacific’s New A350 Premium Economy

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I’m a bit late with this post as Cathay Pacific have already taken delivery and shown the world their new Airbus A350 – they’ve even updated their schedules with the latest routes the aircraft will fly – but, as this is a brand new product, I still feel it’s worth a mention.

Cathay Pacific has had Premium Economy seating for quite a few years now but its new A350 aircraft are set to be fitted out with an entirely new cabin and, up until now, we haven’t really know what to expect.

Now Australian Business Traveller has broken the news that the new Cathay Pacific Premium Economy seat is the B/E Aerospace MiQ seat that, coincidentally, has also been chosen by American Airlines for their new Premium Economy cabin. And it looks pretty good:

Image courtesy of B/E Aerospace

You can forget about the brown/black leather as Cathay Pacific has upholstered the new seats with its traditional (and very recognisable) green fabric but, other than that, this is what the seat looks like.

The two key improvements to the Cathay Pacific Premium Economy cabin are the increase in leg room the new seats provide and the fact that all the Premium Economy seats come with a fully extending footrest. With the current Premium Economy seats just the seats in the front row of the cabin have the extending footrest:

Cathay Pacific Old Premium Economy Seating

Last year I said that I expected the Premium Economy cabin to be laid out in a 2-3-2 setup similar to how the airline’s A330-300 aircraft is set up but, according to AUBT, Cathay Pacific has squeezed in another seat to make it a 2-4-2 layout just like on their 777-300ERs. That’s a little disappointing.

As far as in-seat equipment goes, the seat back screens appear to be of a good size and we’re told that each seat comes equipped with a universal AC power port and a USB port (great for charging all your devices) as well as a “tablet tray” which is designed to hold whatever device passengers choose to bring onboard to watch their own entertainment.

Bottom Line

I’m booked to try out Cathay’s Airbus A350 to their fleet later this year (albeit in Business Class) and I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ve done with the aircraft. The new Premium Economy seat looks very nice and I like the idea that all seat will have the extendable footrest – that should make sleeping easier and considerably more comfortable.

I’ve got an extra incentive to check out the new Premium Economy cabin when I’m on board as I suspect Cathay Pacific Premium Economy may be what I’ll be booking the next time I can’t find Business Class award seats to Australia. If I’m flying alone or with Joanna I know I’ll probably find award space in Business Class (with one airline or another) but I’ll probably need three seats the next time I head down under and I’m not feeling too confident!