Cathay Pacific unveils its new premium economy seat

On Monday, Cathay Pacific finally lifted the veil on its new premium economy cabin at an event at Freespace in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong.

It was the first event showcasing Cathay’s new suite of cabins that will be rolling out as part of its Boeing 777 refurbishment.

Much of the focus so far has been on the new Aria Suite business class seat. But Cathay wanted to give premium economy its own moment in the sun and invited media to see the new seats and outline some of the upcoming and recent passenger experience improvements. I popped down (up?) to take a look, as well as catch the Rugby 7s.

The star of the show was the new premium economy seat, which was available to see and sit on as part of a four-seat mockup:

On the refurbished Boeing 777s, the premium economy cabin will be in a 2-4-2 configuration featuring 48 seats. This is an increase of 50% on the current layout.

Cathay Pacific will be one of the first airlines to showcase a customised version of what I believe is Recaro’s next generation PL3810 premium economy seat, which was first unveiled publicly last year. (As you can tell, Recaro has a knack for catchy product names ….)

The new seat is 10% lighter than the previous version which helps to reduce fuel burn. This is achieved through the use of composite materials that are stronger and lighter than before.

One of the most eye-catching changes is the addition of the winged headrest. This increases the sense of privacy and features a small reading light as well as offering good head support when sleeping.

The good news is that the dimensions remain unchanged from the existing spacious seat, with leg room (pitch) of 40 inches and recline of 8 inches. This is more than both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which pitch their seats at 38 inches. The seat width, between armrests, is 19.1 inches.

Most impressive, however, is the gigantic new in-flight entertainment system provided by Panasonic. This is a huge 4K 15.6″ screen that is about as big as you can go on this seat, and a huge upgrade from the 11″ screens currently on offer. In terms of ‘field of view’, it’s probably bigger than most business and First Class screens, which whilst bigger are often further away.

There is a second mini screen – not visible in this photo – that can be used for cabin announcements, time to destination and other important notifications. This is a clever addition and something I haven’t seen before.

The IFE can also be controlled with the use of a remote control:

Underneath the screen is a sort of small storage space, perfect for placing glasses, charging cables and other small bits and bobs.

There’s also a leather literature pocket underneath as well as a dedicated cup holder for water bottles – a very useful addition.

There’s more storage space for each passenger in one of your armrests, whilst the middle one has a bifold table. I was told by Vivian Lo, General Manager for Customer Experience & Design at Cathay Pacific, that this is due to customer preference – “a bi-fold table offer more versatility – as it can be fully or half deployed for different purposes.”

There’s also a fixed cocktail table between seats that can also be extended, offering a little more space.

In terms of power, there is a dedicated USB-C port delivering 45W of power in the armrest as well as a universal mains socket and USB-A between the seats. The devil is in the details with a user-controlled ambient light in the armrest, as well:

Each seat also has an adjustable leg rest, whilst all rows except the bulkhead rows also feature fold-down footrests.

In terms of look and feel, this very much feels like an evolution of the existing premium economy seat with a similar but slightly less saturated green-turquoise fabric seat back. This is complemented by brown leather in the headrest and foot rest as well as dark grey surrounds and gold accents for hardware such as the coat hook and seat numbering.

Conclusion

Overall, this looks like a strong premium economy product. There’s only so much you can do within the limited confines of the cabin, but Cathay has done well to include everything you could need:

• a massive 15.6″ screen, which is the maximum size allowed by this seat
• an innovative second screen for cabin and crew announcements
• increased storage space with a small fold-down pocket under the screen as well as further storage within the armrest and a dedicated cup holder for water bottles
• winged headrests for privacy and improved sleep – no more head-lolling!

Even little details, such as the mood light in the armrest storage area, should be useful at night when the cabin is dark.

The proof, of course, will be in the flying, but Recaro has a history of producing comfortable premium economy seating (including for Emirates) and it should score highly from a comfort perspective.

Cathay Pacific has yet to announce when the first refurbished aircraft are expected to enter service, but it is likely to be over the summer months. Although not confirmed, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the early arrivals on one of Cathay’s five services to London.