Cathay Pacific today announced that the airline has received
its first Boeing 777-300ER fitted with Premium Economy and its new Economy
Class product.
Speaking at the delivery ceremony at the Boeing factory in
Seattle, Cathay Pacific Chief Operating Officer Ivan Chu said: “This is an
important development for Cathay Pacific – another big step in our commitment
to provide outstanding products and services to our passengers. We’re confident
that both these new products will be winners, especially when combined with the
famous Cathay Pacific service.”
As well as introducing a totally new seat and entertainment
system, Cathay Pacific has designed the entire customer experience to be more
special for its new Premium Economy Class passengers.
To begin with, the new Premium Economy experience features a quieter, more
spacious cabin than the traditional Economy Class with between 26 and 34 seats
per aircraft. The seat pitch is 38 inches – six inches more than Economy Class
– and the seat itself is wider and has a bigger recline. It has a large meal
table, cocktail table, footrest, a 10.6-inch personal television, an in-seat
power outlet, a multi-port connector for personal devices and extra personal
stowage space.
Complementing these features, passengers will also benefit from:
On the ground:
- Priority check-in at dedicated counters and priority
boarding before Economy Class passengers. - An increase in baggage allowance from 20kg to 25kg (weight
system) or two pieces of baggage from 23kg to 25kg each (piece system).
In the air:
- Premium Economy Class seats offer a higher level of comfort
with more living space in a separate cabin before the Economy Class zone. - Passengers will receive an environmentally friendly amenity
kit with dental kit, socks, eyeshade and earplugs for use during their journey. - Larger pillows and noise-cancelling headsets will be
provided to enhance the onboard experience. - Premium Economy passengers will be welcomed aboard with
juice and champagne, and enjoy an enhanced onboard meal selection. - Each passenger will also receive a personal bottle of water
and additional snack choices to include more fresh fruit, an energy bar and
dessert.
Passengers can book the Premium Economy seats for flights departing from 1
April onwards which will initially be featured on some of the selected flights
on the Sydney (CX101/100), Toronto (CX826/825/828/829), Vancouver (CX888/889),
and New York (CX830/831/ 840/841/888/889) routes. In May, Premium Economy will
be featured on some of the selected flights on the London route (CX252/255). As
the number of aircraft fitted with these new cabins increases, priority will be
given to achieving daily availability on these routes.
Additional markets will come online later in the year including Adelaide, Los
Angeles, Melbourne and San Francisco in August, Frankfurt in September and
Brisbane and Mumbai in October. More continental Europe and long-haul routes
will be gradually introduced beyond that.
By end of this year, Cathay Pacific will have 48 aircraft installed with the
new product. By the end of 2013, 87 aircraft in the airline’s long-haul fleet
will feature Premium Economy.
Details of the new products can be found in the table below:
|
Premium |
New |
Current |
Aircraft type |
Boeing 777-300ER Boeing 747-400 Airbus A330-300 Airbus A340-000 |
Boeing 777-300ER Airbus A330-300 |
Boeing 777-300ER Boeing 747-400 Airbus A330-300 Airbus A340-000 |
Configuration |
Airbus: 2-3-2 Boeing: 2-4-2 |
Airbus: 2-4-2 Boeing: 3-3-3 |
Airbus: 2-4-2 Boeing: 3-3-3 |
Cabin environment |
A separate cabin with 26-34 seats |
A bigger cabin compared to current |
|
Seat pitch |
38” |
32” |
32” |
Seat width |
19.5” |
18.1”-18.5” |
17.45”-18.5” |
|
A wider seat with centre console on one |
|
|
Recline |
8” |
6” |
4”-6” |
|
Larger range of recline distance to ensure |
|
|
Meal table |
Large in-arm meal table provides a good |
Back-mounted |
Back-mounted meal table |
Cocktail table |
Cocktail table on centre console with |
Nil |
Nil |
Leg-rest and footrest |
Leg-rest and footrest available for front The aft-mounted footrest has three ratchet |
Nil |
Nil |
PTV monitor size |
10.6” widescreen TV to provide a better |
9” touch screen monitor |
6”-9” |
In-seat power outlet |
One in-seat universal power supply outlet |
One in-seat outlet for each passenger |
One in-seat outlet for each passenger |
Multi-port Connector (with iPhone/iPod and |
Including an iPhone/iPod connector and a The USB port can be used to charge devices |
Same as Premium Economy Class |
Nil |
Extra personal storage space |
Seat back mounted amenity stowage space for |
Extra space for passenger to stow personal Cup holder mounted on the table is stable |
Back mounted cup holder |
Living space |
Living space is enhanced by minimizing the |
Living space is enhanced by reducing the |
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