At Young Travelers of Hong Kong, we’ve largely covered the Cathay Pacific A350. From when it was first rumoured to when I actually got to see the cabins in person (and reviewed it from Taipei to Hong Kong), I’ve tried to share everything I knew about the plane, as it really is revolutionary to Cathay Pacific’s cost structure.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong Airport
One thing Cathay Pacific had on their A350 agenda was their new flight to Gatwick, which was their A350’s first longhaul commercial flight. Hell, they even had awesome fares on the flight, and they continue to be just as good, especially in business class ex-Colombo.
Fly in Cathay Pacific’s A350 business class roundtrip from Colombo to London Gatwick for a little bit more than HK$16,000
Well, the day where the bird will start flying for long durations of time has probably come. As of tomorrow, Friday, September 2nd, 2016, Cathay Pacific will start flying their A350 longhaul to London Gatwick. The flight leaves at 12:55 AM, which means that the inaugural flyers to Gatwick will already be at the airport ready to fly.
Meanwhile, the actual first A350 longhaul flight was to Dusseldorf, which departed Hong Kong this morning, which I wasn’t aware of (thanks, Jason). The A350 will continue to operate the Dusseldorf flight as well.
The plane features 38 reverse herringbone business class seats, which is their brand new business class product…
Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Business Class Cabin
…28 premium economy seats, designed by B/E Aerospace (and while I haven’t actually spent time in it, they’re apparently super comfortable)…
Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Premium Economy Class
…and 214 economy seats, also brand new. They have six-way headrests with their own “headrest nets” where you can lean on, which makes for an extra comfortable ride.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Economy Class
This is a 12 hour and 35-minute flight, though it’s worth noting that these is the first Cathay Pacific longhaul flights that feature WiFi. It’ll cost US$19.95 without data caps, which is pretty awesome, in my opinion.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 Business Class WiFi Prices
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Chinese airspace has lifted WiFi bans (though they’re in the process of planning it, especially for Cathay Pacific), so there really won’t be much use for it until the latter half of both flights.
Bottom Line
This would definitely allow me to fly to Dusseldorf/Gatwick if I had the choice, instead of Heathrow (which features their 777-300ERs, which are also very nice, but not as nice, especially in premium economy). I can’t wait for more destinations to be opened up on the Cathay Pacific A350, and definitely will try to get on it more in the future.