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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
There's a major tech and privacy push at Cathay Pacific's Aria Suite, though there's not as much space or storage compared to some of their older business class seats. While Cathay Pacific's soft product is spectacular in general, catering out of their European outstations doesn't compare to their catering ex-Hong Kong |
4.5
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In September 2025, I had the opportunity to fly Cathay Pacific’s business class from London to Hong Kong, as the first flight in my Aria expedition to Hong Kong and Japan. Specifically, I sought out a flight in their Aria Suite, which is their brand new longhaul business class product that they introduced in 2024. While the Aria Suite is slowly being rolled out across their longhaul route network, London was Cathay Pacific’s first longhaul destination to sport these new cabin interiors. A brand new premium economy cabin was also introduced, which I’ll be reviewing in the last installment of this trip report.
As a point of comparison, I’ve flown Cathay Pacific’s longhaul business class multiple times – I last flew their A350 business class in 2022, and their older 777 business class in 2023. I was curious to see how the Aria Suite stacked up against Cathay Pacific’s other business class seats, and whether it was worth going out of your way to fly the Aria Suite.
I’m very glad I had the chance to fly the Aria Suite, and the seat itself is stunning, with a huge tech and privacy push. However, the seats do have less storage and feel marginally less spacious than their A350 counterparts. I still consider this to be the best business class seat in Cathay Pacific’s fleet, though it’s perhaps a marginal evolution, as opposed to a complete revolutionary product.
Let’s get into the review, where I’ll review the seat itself in detail, as well as the overall Cathay Pacific business class experience.
How To Know If Your Flight Features Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class
Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite business class flies on the following routes:
- between Hong Kong and London – CX255/CX250
- between Hong Kong and Melbourne – CX163/CX178
- between Hong Kong and Sydney – CX101/CX100
- between Hong Kong and Vancouver – CX888/CX865
- between Hong Kong and Beijing – CX334/CX335
The airline will operate the Aria Suite to Tokyo Haneda (CX548/CX549) and Sapporo Chitose (CX580/CX581) as well in the coming months, though do make sure you check the seat map to make sure your flight is operated by the Aria Suite. You’ll know if the rear business class cabin features five full rows in a 1-2-1 configuration (rows 19-23) – the older longhaul 777s either feature only four rows (rows 20-23), or feature a huge rear business class cabin that goes from rows 15-26.
Booking Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class
I knew coming in which London frequency Cathay Pacific operated their Aria Suite on, so intentionally sought out award space on those flights between Hong Kong and London. While there wasn’t any award space from Hong Kong to London, the London to Hong Kong flight had award space for the date I needed. I booked this flight for 84,000 Asia Miles plus HK$3,502 (£332) in taxes:
03/09 Cathay Pacific 250 London Heathrow – Hong Kong dep. 18:20 arr. 14:10+1 [Business Class]
The reason why the taxes were so high was because I was paying the UK Air Passenger Duty tax, which is charged to all passengers with itineraries originating in the UK in longhaul business class. While I typically try and get around it (I could’ve flown out of another country into the UK on British Airways and connected onto this flight, which would’ve cost marginally more miles but waived the UK APD), this time round it was by far easiest to just book the flight as is, due to commitments I had on either end.
Cathay Pacific tends to release most of their longhaul business class award space exclusively to Asia Miles these days, so there wouldn’t have been many alternatives to booking this product. Asia Miles are easy to come by, as they’re transferrable from most points currencies within Hong Kong and the UK.
Cathay Pacific’s Business Class Ground Experience at Heathrow
I left Heathrow on quite a rainy day, and I decided to head to Heathrow in the morning, so I could work from home all day. Cathay Pacific business class passengers have access to an array of lounges at Heathrow’s Terminal 3, and the Qantas and Cathay Pacific lounges are especially excellent. I decided to have breakfast and coffee at the Qantas lounge, before having lunch at the Cathay Pacific lounge, and even had the chance to take a shower before my flight.
Unfortunately the lounges are by far the best thing I can say about the otherwise-drab Heathrow Terminal 3. Our flight was departing from the far end of the terminal at gate 40 (as it usually does), so I headed over at around 5:20 PM, ahead of our scheduled 5:40 PM boarding time.
Heathrow Terminal 3
While typically I’d had gotten a decent view of the 12-year-old Cathay Pacific 777 bringing me to Hong Kong, in this case it was so rainy that I couldn’t really get a good shot of the plane.
Cathay Pacific 777 at Heathrow Airport
The gate area was set up in an organised fashion, with separate lanes for Oneworld Emerald members, business class/Oneworld Sapphire members, premium economy passengers, and economy passengers. The economy lane was even slightly curved, to give people more space to line up.
Cathay Pacific boards passengers who need extra assistance first, followed by Diamond and Oneworld Emerald members. Then, business class passengers, Cathay Gold and Silver members, and Oneworld Sapphire members board simultaneously. Premium economy then boards next, followed by rows 59-72 of economy class passengers. The rest of the passengers are then invited to board last. I know that the airline is trialling boarding groups, though this wasn’t offered on my flight.
Cathay Pacific Gate Area at Heathrow Airport
While boarding even started a few minutes early (at 5:35 PM), a hurried ground staff supervisor instructed the gate agents to stop boarding for just a moment, as the aircraft’s PA system wasn’t working properly. The supervisor assured us over the PA that we would still proceed even if the PA wasn’t working properly, though it seemed like doing a reset of the system did the trick. We were finally invited to board at 6 PM, twenty minutes before our scheduled departure time.
Boarding Cathay Pacific’s 777 at Heathrow Airport
I was so excited to check out Cathay Pacific’s newest business class product!
Cathay Pacific Flight CX250
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Origin: London Heathrow (LHR) T: 3 Gate: 40 Dep: 18:20 (19:05)
Destination: Hong Kong (HKG) Gate: 4 Arr: 14:10+1 (14:20+1)
Duration: 12 hr 50 min (12 hr 15 min)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER Reg: B-KQH
Seat: 23A (Business Class)
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class Cabin and Seat
I entered through the first set of doors, and was able to see a backlit brushwing logo plaque greeting us at the plane’s entryway.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Entrance
Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite cabin is stunning. It’s got a real understated luxury design, and I love the soft lighting finishes, whether it’s by the individual seat lamps or the lit-up seat numbers. While Cathay Pacific has always designed practical, comfortable and spacious longhaul business class cabins, and they’ve got great lounge design, this is the first time they’ve really made an onboard business class cabin look elegant, in my opinion.
These are reverse herringbone seats with doors, laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration. The forward cabin features 25 seats (there are six full rows, and row 18 only features the K seat, since there’s a bathroom where the A seat would otherwise be).
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Forward Cabin
Then there are a further five rows with 20 business class seats, behind the second set of doors.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Rear Cabin
If you’re travelling with a companion, you might want to pick one of the middle pairs of seats (D and G). However, if you’re seated there last minute next to a stranger, there’s a privacy screen you can pull back, so you still feel like you have your own space.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Center Seats and Privacy Screen
I wasn’t travelling with anyone else and also wanted a window view, so picked seat 23A. Since I boarded first, I did manage to get photos of the other cabins as well – though I’ll be reviewing all three cabins onboard this aircraft in the coming months, so will save those photos for then.
I have less of a preference for sitting in the last row when I don’t recline into anyone else’s space, though in this case I was still happy to sit here, since there wasn’t any galley noise coming out from between us and the premium economy cabin.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Seat 23A
The seat itself features roughly the same amount of square footage as a typical reverse herringbone seat, with the addition of a door. Still, it feels quite spacious, and I couldn’t get over how elegant the fixtures and finishes looked.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Seat
Legroom is perhaps ever so slightly tighter than you’d get in some of the airline’s older configurations, though still very much on the generous side, given the reverse herringbone layout.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Legroom
In front was a 24″ 4K TV screen, which was very touchscreen-responsive. It also featured the airline’s new latest entertainment system UI.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class TV
To the left of the seat were two surfaces, including a faux wood side table and a faux marble ledge. If I were to be super nitpicky, perhaps this was slightly annoying, as I couldn’t prop a laptop there when my meal arrived.
Also by the side console was a storage unit (featuring headphones and a water bottle), a touchscreen remote, as well as a lamp. The lamp in particular featured an impressive amount of customisation, as you could control how bright it was based on the seat’s recline – more on that later when I cover seat controls.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Side Console
There was a small storage unit fit for a phone, passport, or glasses, that slid out from the side table. This wasn’t a massive compartment, so couldn’t store a laptop or anything.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Side Storage
Otherwise, the only other storage area was a little compartment by my feet. Quick observation – this is a significantly reduced amount of storage compared to Cathay Pacific’s A350 business class seat. It didn’t bother me that much, though I couldn’t find appropriate storage compartments for shoes or a laptop, unlike with some of the airline’s older seats. This was a surprise to me in an otherwise well-designed business class seat.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Storage Compartment
Out of the side console, a mirror folded out, in case you wanted to do your hair or makeup before landing.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Side Console Mirror
A tray table could be deployed from under the TV screen. This was bi-fold, and large and sturdy. However, I also thought it was a missed opportunity that the table could only be deployed in the “fully open” position, or stowed completely. Many airlines with reverse herringbone seats allow you to slide the tray table up to an intermediate position so you can get out of your seat easily, though this wasn’t possible here.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Tray Table
Below this was a footwell. While small, I didn’t find this to be an issue, though you can’t store anything here during takeoff and landing.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Footwell
As you’d expect for an industry-leading business class seat, there was much in the way of in-seat power, including a 110V power port, two USB-C ports, and a USB-A port.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Power Ports
There’s also a wireless charging port featured on the marble surface. However, I found this wireless charging port to be basically pointless. Due to the seat’s minimalist design, the actual port was hard to locate, and I had to find some extremely subtle marks just to locate where the actual port was. Even when I managed to find it, it was impossible to find a good angle for my phone, and I ended up just resorting to using USB-C charging. I wish the airline could’ve laid the charging port out more clearly, and also used better technology (or foregone the wireless port entirely in favour of more storage space).
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Wireless Charging Port
I sound like I’m complaining, though those are nitpicks. There’s so much to like about the seat’s other tech. The most extensive (yet intuitive) seat controls are located in the inflight entertainment panel, where you can set your seat into the upright, lounge, or sleep position. You’re also able to do that from a side touchscreen panel strip by the armrest.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Seat Controls
However, I enjoyed the most that there was a certain seat preset for activities that you could be doing inflight, including watching a movie, working, relaxing, dining, and sleeping. This controlled not only the seat angle, but also the lighting around the seat.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Seat Controls
Each of the individual light fixtures around the seat is controllable through the inflight entertainment system, and you can also turn all of the lights off if you want to go to sleep.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Light Control
I’ll talk about the seat in reclined and bed mode later on in the post, though I can’t do a seat overview without highlighting the door. The door was only “unlocked” from the open position after takeoff, and was locked again before landing, for safety reasons.
The door is noticeably quite high in the Aria Suite – this is a much more substantial door than British Airways has on their Club Suites, and probably comparable to what Qatar Airways has on their QSuites or 787-9s. Generally I think of doors in business class seats as really good privacy partitions, and this door served that purpose well – it helped block out foot traffic when it was closed, without necessarily making my seat a fully enclosed space.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Door
Even with the door open, the cabin feels private with the high seat walls, and I couldn’t see anyone from my seat at eye level unless I stood up (and I was in the last row).
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Cabin
There was a note on each of the IFE screens that informed business class passengers that the privacy doors were locked for taxi, takeoff and landing.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class IFE Screen
I’m more convinced now that my first impressions of Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite were accurate – there’s a huge push towards privacy and tech at this seat, which many airlines are now indexing their business class seat quality on. However, I felt that this came at a cost of space and storage in this particular design iteration of their business class seat. It’s not that I felt like there was an unacceptable amount of space or storage, but Cathay Pacific’s previous-generation A350 led the industry in both of those facets, whereas I felt like this seat was probably average at best in both regards.
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class Amenities
Cathay Pacific’s longhaul business class amenities are stellar. Waiting at my seat was a pillow, as well as a wrapped bedding set. Here it is all unfolded – there’s a duvet and a mattress pad, and all three item are provided by Bamford. I found the bedding to be very plush and comfortable.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Pillow, Blanket and Mattress Pad
Aside from that, a very useful pair of slippers was provided at the seat during boarding.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Slippers
Headphones were provided as well. I don’t find Cathay Pacific’s headphones to be amazing, though this didn’t matter too much this time round, as Cathay Pacific’s new 777s feature Bluetooth audio.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Headphones
Also waiting at the seat was an amenity kit provided by Bamford. I’m a fan of the pouch itself, and the contents featured eyeshades, pillow mist and multi balm, earplugs, and a dental kit with mouthwash.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Amenity Kit
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class Lavatory
Cathay Pacific’s new 777s feature three lavatories for 45 Aria Suite passengers, which is a decent 15:1 passenger to lavatory ratio. Two of them are featured at the front of the plane, whereas one of them is between the two business class cabins.
All of them feature faux wood wallpaper, as well as a “real” sink. There are touch-free functions such as a wave-to-flush sensor and a step-to-open bin lever, and otherwise the lavatory featured Bamford toiletries.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Lavatory
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class Pre-Departure Service
During boarding, crew members came round to offer pre-departure beverages, including orange and apple juice, water, and champagne. I was really cheeky, and asked whether I could get both an orange juice and champagne, so I could make a mimosa. Cathay Pacific serves Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve champagne, which I enjoyed.
The crew member serving me addressed me by name and welcomed me onboard. I asked whether he enjoyed working the Aria Suite, and he said it was his favourite cabin to work as a flight attendant. I knew it would be a great flight.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Pre-Departure Beverages
A hot towel service was then done after boarding was complete.
After the safety video, another crewmember came to take my meal order for after takeoff, as well as what drink I’d like before the meal service.
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class Entertainment System
One of my key weaknesses of an aviation reviewer is that my movie and TV show knowledge sucks. I’m invested in UI and can tell you how sleek an entertainment system UI is as well as how the functionality is, though I don’t actually know whether the entertainment system selection is extensive or not. I’m looking forward to bringing J along on more of my travels, as she’ll fill up what I lack in this regard (she was meeting me in Hong Kong from elsewhere in a few days’ time).
As far as the UI goes, this is a spectacular entertainment system – not only can you control your seat, though you can also see the flight timeline, including when WiFi is enabled, when meals are served, etc.. You can even put in times when you want to watch a movie, work, sleep, etc. and I suppose the seat contols would react at about that time.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class IFE Screen
Not pictured is a lavatory availability map, where you can see when each of the lavatories is occupied or not.
On top of that, there are so many more things that this IFE screen is capable of doing, including changing the font size, connecting to wireless headphones, correcting or inverting colour, and even watching a movie together with someone else on the flight.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class IFE Screen
I figured the actual movie selection looked good, and entire TV shows were featured as well.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Movies and TV Selection
Additionally, I liked the inflight map, and there was even shading for WiFi coverage, including where it wasn’t available over the North and South poles, various parts of the Pacific Ocean, etc..
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class WiFi Availability Map
And best of all, while Cathay Pacific doesn’t have a tail camera on its 777s, they do feature some of the highest-definition nose and belly cameras that I’ve seen. This is definitely the most high-definition exterior camera I’ve seen on any aircraft outside of an A350, and I liked the little dashboard at the bottom as well.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Outside Camera
Taking off from Heathrow Airport
Boarding was complete at around 6:20 PM, just around our departure time. The captain came onto the PA to welcome us onboard, and announced our 11h 43m flight time. He mentioned that we’d be pushing back in 20 minutes to fulfil the departure slot that Heathrow Airport had given us, since it was quite busy at this time of evening.
From our departure gate we had a clear view of the Japan Airlines A350 parked next to us (which I’d love to fly in both business and premium economy class), and at one point a Qantas A380 even went past – hi! While the weather was poor earlier on in the day, it had cleared up substantially by the time we had boarded.
View of traffic at Heathrow T3
At around 6:30 PM, Cathay Pacific’s new safety video was screened, featuring various iconic Hong Kong backdrops. As someone who doesn’t live in Hong Kong though still calls it home, I love this video.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Safety Video Screening
We ended up sitting around for a bit longer than 20 minutes. We pushed back at 7:05 PM, and it was a slow taxi to runway 27L, which required taxiing from the north to the south side of Heathrow Airport behind an evening rush of traffic.
Taxiing at Heathrow Airport
It was fun to see aircraft both from the nose camera, as well as from the window next to me!
Taxiing at Heathrow Airport
After a short queue to take off, we were airborne at 7:30 PM, banking left over Windsor to head eastbound towards Hong Kong.
Taking off from Heathrow Airport
Mood lighting was turned on as we took off. I can’t get over how elegant the cabin looks in all lighting levels – the backlit seat number plates are just an example of that.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Cabin with Mood Lighting
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class WiFi
Cathay Pacific’s 777s feature WiFi, and it’s even enabled on the ground in some cases (this was true at Heathrow, though not Hong Kong on both of my flights on this aircraft). WiFi is complimentary for business class passengers.
I logged onto Cathay Pacific’s internet connection site, and saw the (very reasonable) WiFi pricing passes. However, in this case I was flying in business class, so could just click on the green ribbon above the main pricing page.
From there, I had to enter my name and seat number, and I was in!
WiFi speeds were definitely acceptable, even though Speedtest.net took too long to load for me to do a feasible speed test. On my return flight on the same airframe, speeds measured 8.23 Mbps down and 2.96 Mbps up. This is acceptable, and reflected the decent loading speeds that I was able to obtain on both flights.
I will, however, note that the actual WiFi connection portal is frustrating to use, as it loads far more slowly than the actual WiFi capability itself. I was able to connect after a couple of tries on this flight, though couldn’t even log into my Cathay Pacific account on my return flight without the page timing out due to slow load speeds (fortunately Cathay Pacific allows you to check out as a guest, so that worked).
The WiFi also worked for much of the flight, though there was an extended blank spot somewhere over Kyrgysztan.
Cathay Pacific’s Business Class Meal Service
The meal service kicked off not long after the seatbelt sign turned off. There was a separate food menu and drinks list available at my seat during boarding, which looked like this:
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Menus
The dinner menu read as follows, and there was also an “all day” menu available on request between meal services:
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Menu
The options all looked good, and we had the opportunity to pre-order our meal online from 7 days before departure if we wanted. Do note that the pre-order simply guarantees your meal choice – there isn’t an expanded meal selection to choose from, unlike Singapore Airlines’ Book The Cook. I’ll comment more on the meal options after I describe the meal service.
The wines list read as follows:
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Wines List
Below is the drinks list, as well as a separate leaflet we were given of discovery wines, which were Chinese wines that are highlighted in Cathay Pacific business class:
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Drinks and Discovery Wine List
Perhaps I’d have appreciated more mocktails in Cathay Pacific business class – apart from Cathay Delight and Hong Kong-style milk tea, there isn’t anything particularly special in the way of beverages in Cathay Pacific business class. However, if you do drink, there’s a great selection, including cocktails, discovery wines, good champagne, etc..
I’d asked for the discovery wine on offer when my meal order was being taken. The friendly flight attendant taking my order said “if I were to be completely honest, usually when people try the discovery wines, they tend to send it back”. Okay…I haven’t tried a mainland Chinese wine before, so asked whether I could have a glass to try after takeoff anyway.
This was served around half an hour after wheels-up from Heathrow. This was the Hu Yue Qiu Shan Valley wine from Shandong, which retails for US$265 (£198/HK$2,061) a bottle. I didn’t think it was that bad. Granted, I wouldn’t pay anywhere near retail price for it, and it lacked the complexity and depth you’d expect from a wine of its caliber from Europe or Oceania. I kind of appreciated the highlight of local wine, though wonder whether they should’ve gone for a moutai-based cocktail instead (which would’ve been much cheaper for the airline to cater as well).
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Wine and Amuse Bouche
This was served with an off-menu amuse bouche of roast beef. I thought that the amuse bouche was delicious, and a nice touch.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Amuse Bouche
20 minutes later, the appetiser was served. I had chosen the poached prawns with spiced horseradish tomato sauce, which was good and plated nicely. I thought the sauce added some pizzazz to what otherwise wouldn’t have been a very exciting dish.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Appetiser – Poached Prawns with Spiced Horseradish Tomato Sauce
25 minutes later the main course was served. I had originally ordered the wok fried beef tenderloin with Chinese tomato sauce. Upon asking for the flight attendant’s recommendation, she suggested that I switch to the parmesan crusted North Atlantic cod fillet – “the beef is good, though you can have a similar dish in Hong Kong”.
This isn’t a bad reflection on the flight attendant at all – recommendations are great, show enthusiasm for the product, and she was super friendly and showed genuine hospitality. But I really didn’t care for the fish that much. It reminded me of the (slightly disappointing) crusted cod that I’d had on the same route a few years ago – the cod itself didn’t have a ton of flavour, it was overcooked, the crust was sloppy, and the warm tartare sauce wasn’t amazing. I was also confused by the side salad it was served with.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Main Course – Grilled Parmesan Crusted North Atlantic Cod Fillet
I saw that the wok-fried beef tenderloin was served with a pork soup with yam, carrot and corns. When I requested a switch to the cod, I asked whether I could have the soup from the original dish on the side, and the flight attendant obliged. I’m glad I did – the soup was flavourful, sweet, and reminded me of soups I’d have quite regularly in Hong Kong. It was so good that I asked for a second serving, which was granted.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Main Course – Pork Soup with Yams, Carrot and Corn
After I finished my main course, my plate was cleared. Around 15-20 minutes after this, a crewmember came by with a box of pralines, inviting me to choose one.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Pralines
Dessert was served a further 10 minutes after this, and I chose the vanilla bean panna cotta with passion fruit jelly, which was tasty.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Dessert – Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit Jelly
While I wasn’t a huge fan of the main course, the meal itself was well-executed and took around 1h 30m to finish, which is not too bad on a 12h flight.
I will say, however, that Cathay Pacific’s ex-Hong Kong catering sounds so much better. Cathay Pacific offers “Cathay Signatures” on their ex-Hong Kong flights, with dishes from abalone to stuffed crab shell, and partnerships with a variety of different restaurants around Hong Kong. I had a taste of this on a Cathay Pacific flight to London a couple of years ago, and found catering on that flight to be significantly better. (I knew this coming in, though there wasn’t award space on the Aria Suite ex-Hong Kong for my dates.)
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Relax and Bed Mode
After the meal service concluded, the cabin lights were dimmed, and some mood lighting was put on for a bit.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Mood Lighting
Here is the seat’s pre-set “Relax” mode, which takes on a nice lazy-Z position suited for watching a movie or reading a book.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Relax Mode
Then there’s bed mode. I found Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite to be spacious in bed mode, though not nearly as much so as their A350 counterpart. There’s not as much of a push to maximise space around the hip and knee area. This wasn’t too much of an issue, as I was still able to get very comfortable.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Bed
The armrest actually collapses down to form part of the bed, making for a wider surface around the shoulder area. I’m not sure what it is about Cathay Pacific seats with regard to bed extensions – their A350 business class seat also features a bed extension, though it’s hard to find, and very few people would recognise the feature at all. I’d say that this armrest bed extension is even harder to find, as I was only able to realise this functionality when playing with the armrest to try and find more storage space.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Bed Extension
Despite the fact that it’s not quite as good as its previous-generation seat, Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite still makes for a very nice sleeping surface. I wasn’t that tired since it was only around 9 PM back home, though alternated between working and napping for a few hours. Before we knew it we were above Tashkent, and there was a beautiful sunrise outside the window.
Sunrise over Tashkent
At this point the cabin lights had completely turned off, save for a little bit of backlighting at the front of the cabin (this might be worth noting if you’re thinking of selecting yourself a bulkhead seat in this configuration).
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Cabin
I even went to have a peek at the forward cabin at this time – what a beautifully designed cabin!
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Cabin
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Catering Between Meals
At various points in the flight I sampled things from the all-day menu available, which featured a Thai mixed vegetable curry, fish ball and shrimp ball noodle soup, a beef burger, and galley snacks.
Not too long after dinner I decided to try out the fish ball and shrimp ball noodle soup. This was tasty, though I would’ve wished there was a bit more broth.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Mid-Flight Dining – Fish Ball and Shrimp Ball Noodle Soup
After I woke up mid-way through the flight, I decided to ask for a Thai mixed vegetable curry, so I could try it. While the curry itself was good, I was surprised by the fact that it didn’t come with rice at all – that would’ve made for a much more cohesive dish, as otherwise I was just eating mixed vegetables covered in curry sauce!
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Mid-Flight Dining – Thai Mixed Vegetable Curry
In terms of drinks, at some point during the flight I tried Cathay Pacific’s signature Cloud Nine, which was delicious.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Drink – Cloud Nine
At another point I decided to have a glass of port, which was Noval 10 year old Tawny Port from Duoro Valley, Portugal. This was very nice as well.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Drink – Port Wine
Finally, between galleys there was a selection of water, fruit and snacks, including Cathay-branded Palmier cookies. I had a Palmier cookie, and it was very tasty as well.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Galley Snacks
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class Service
The cabin crew on this flight were so friendly, and I have nothing but good things to say about them. They were personable, enthusiastic about the product, and clearly wanted everyone onboard to have a good experience.
Cathay Pacific’s service flow is definitely much improved in past. While meals are still served on a tray as opposed to directly on the table, the service flow feels genuine and restaurant-style. It’s not the most personalised – this isn’t the type of service flow where you’ll get one flight attendant assigned to you throughout the flight, and where you’ll build the most rapport – though that isn’t generally Cathay Pacific’s service culture. Cathay Pacific is more likely to prioritise that you aren’t disturbed throughout the flight, and that the meal service is executed as efficiently as possible. I had no complaints on that front.
All of the above meals also took less than 10-15 minutes after ordering to arrive, which I also appreciated.
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class Pre-Landing Meal Service
Around 90 minutes before landing, I woke up again to some sunrise mood lighting, as the cabin crew prepared for the pre-landing meal service. My breakfast order was taken at around this time.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Cabin before Landing
Here’s the breakfast menu:
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Breakfast Menu
You can choose your preferred breakfast order on a little card that you hang up on a coat hook, though it’s worth noting that this doesn’t work very well on the Aria Suite. This is because the coat hook is positioned inside the suite, so when the door is closed, the cabin crew can’t actually easily collect your breakfast card. I filled in my breakfast card midway through the flight, and woke up to find it on the floor, with the crew not knowing what I’d ordered for breakfast.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Breakfast Card
I decided to go with the lighter breakfast – while stir fried egg noodles sounded good to me, I wanted to stress-test what an egg white frittata would taste like on Cathay Pacific. I feel like in this case they actually delivered, as the frittata was flavourful, tender, and presented like you’d expect in a posh café. The apple danish and croissant on the side were tasty too, as was the fresh fruit that was offered.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Breakfast – Egg White Frittata with spinach, slow roasted tomatoes, sour cream, Espelette pepper
In terms of beverages, I was asked whether I wanted coffee, and I asked if I could have both a coffee and a Hong Kong-style milk tea. While the Hong Kong-style milk tea was delicious, I wish I was asked what kind of coffee I wanted, as I would’ve preferred an espresso-based beverage. (Of course I could’ve indicated, though as I’d just woken up, I just said “yes”).
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Coffee and HK Style Milk Tea
Landing into Hong Kong Airport
All too soon it was time to land into Hong Kong Airport. The captain came onto the PA 35 minutes before landing, announcing that it would be a sunny day with a 33°C temperature. A hot towel service was then conducted, where I was addressed by name again.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Cabin before Landing
At this point, connecting gate information was shown. While connecting gate information is nothing new, I really liked the interface, which showed how long people had before their connecting flights.
Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite Business Class Connecting Gate Information
Around 25 minutes before landing, the cabin was prepared, and the doors were locked back in the open position. I was excited to be back in Asia again for the first time in a year!
Landing into Hong Kong
We circled Hong Kong during our descent, so we had stunning views over Victoria Harbour, as we did a 180° turn left over eastern Hong Kong to line up onto runway 25L.
Landing into Hong Kong Airport
While I still prefer tail cameras, it was fun to see us line up with runway 25L over the nose camera. It was also a slightly windy approach, so you could see the plane roll from left to right as we began our final descent.
Landing into Hong Kong Airport
We touched down at 2:15 PM, five minutes after our scheduled arrival time, and had a quick taxi to gate 4, where we parked next to a Cathay Pacific A350.
Landing at Hong Kong Airport
It was time to bid farewell to the crew. My bag took around 20 minutes to come out, though afterwards, I was on my way home.
Conclusion: Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite Business Class
Cathay Pacific’s 777 Aria Suite is a stunning product. The cabin is elegant, the at-seat tech is incredible (possibly the best out of any airline I’ve flown so far), there’s good privacy, and the seat itself is plenty comfortable as well. There’s also a lot to like about the Cathay Pacific business class experience, from good bedding, to a great variety and high-touch presentation of tasty food and drinks, to free WiFi.
Now, there’s a huge tech and privacy push at the Aria Suite, and I feel like it came at the expense of storage space, as well as overall bed space. I feel like there were missed opportunities where Cathay Pacific could’ve gotten those things right as well albeit the door and seat tech, though simply didn’t have that part of the design in mind. I also don’t think I’d go out of my way to fly the Aria Suite for that reason – sure, if I was originating from London I’d pick this flight if I could, though I wouldn’t route through London specifically to fly the Aria Suite if I was originating from elsewhere in Europe. Cathay Pacific’s older A350 seat remains one of the best in its class, and still offers an unparalleled amount of spaciousness and storage compared to the Aria Suite. This remains a good seat, though, and I’d say it’s an overall better hard product (though not by as much as it could be).
The soft product on this flight was great, though I do wish I got to try their catering out of Hong Kong, which looks a lot better than what I’d experienced on this flight.
