Over the past couple of days, I flew from Tokyo to Seoul to Hong Kong to London, on the tail end of a trip back home. I flew from Tokyo to Seoul on a ZIPAIR 787, and I’ve shared my thoughts here. The reason I flew out of Seoul was to grab a cheap premium economy fare on Cathay Pacific to London, precisely so I could try the airline’s new 777 premium economy product flying on the route.
So how was Cathay Pacific’s new 777 premium economy? Good, I think. The airline kept most of what made its previous-generation premium economy seat special, including good recline and storage options, though I wasn’t sure there was a material improvement between Cathay Pacific’s older premium economy seat and this seat. If anything, premium economy products have dramatically improved in seat design and ergonomics across the board, and I feel like Cathay just went for one of these good off-the-shelf designs this time, as opposed to designing something revolutionary.
There’s a parallel between this seat and the Aria Suite – there’s a huge push to catch up with the latest and greatest tech improvements, though not much really has changed. I don’t feel like the seat had regressed in any way, so I’m not complaining.
I’ll share my first impressions here, and I’ll write a full review of the flight in the coming days.
Cathay Pacific’s New 777 Premium Economy Seat
Cathay Pacific’s new 777s feature 48 economy class seats spread out across six rows, rows 30-35. (in case you’re wondering why the cabin is light, I took these photos from the time I flew from London to Hong Kong in the Aria Suite, since I had priority boarding that time).
Cathay Pacific 777 Premium Economy Cabin
The seat itself is comfortable, and I found the recline to be really generous. As with all previous-generation Cathay Pacific premium economy seats, you get an adjustable headrest, a legrest, and a footrest. I also liked the small privacy wings between seats.
Cathay Pacific 777 Premium Economy Class Recline
The seat itself is a modified Recaro PL3530 seat, which is used by airlines such as Emirates, LATAM, Air India, and China Southern. I kind of which the airline did the same thing as Qantas, where you could fit your pillow atop the headrest.
Storage at the seat is well thought-out. The main bit of storage is in the dual-layered seat pocket, where I could very easily place my laptop and other items. There’s also a separate pocket under the TV screen for glasses or phones (with a nook to feed in a charging cable), and a separate sealed container under the armrest where I could put items such as an AirPods case.
Cathay Pacific 777 Premium Economy Class Storage
In terms of in-seat power, you’ll get a USB-C port under the armrest, as well as a 110V and USB-A power port between seats. A lot of thought has undoubtedly gone into this seat design especially on the tech and storage front, which I appreciate. It’s a little ironic that I can leave my laptop out of my bag during takeoff and landing in Cathay Pacific’s new 777 premium economy, but not their brand-new business class.
This is all great, though Cathay Pacific’s A350 premium economy product was great too, and I’d definitely find this to be a marginal evolutionary improvement as opposed to a revolutionary improvement.
Cathay Pacific’s older A350 product was great too
Cathay Pacific’s New 777 Premium Economy Entertainment System
Cathay Pacific’s new 777s have an updated entertainment system. I’m not the best judge of entertainment system selections, though in terms of UI, this is easily one of the best I’ve used. There’s Bluetooth audio connectivity, and furthermore I also appreciate the little touches, such as being able to sync your movie with the people around you (they don’t even need to be sitting next to you, and you can turn the feature off, much like AirDrop).
Cathay Pacific 777 Premium Economy Class Entertainment System
The one thought I had was that I appreciated there being a strip in the Aria Suite where you could see the remaining flight time. While there was a separate strip on the bottom right hand corner of the main screen, it only featured a seat belt sign icon, as well as whether the WiFi was working. Being able to show the remaining flight time on that strip would’ve been really useful.
While there’s sadly no tail camera, these planes also feature the most HD front and belly cameras I’ve ever seen on a 777.
Cathay Pacific 777 Premium Economy Class Screen Camera
Cathay Pacific’s Premium Economy Soft Product
While I’ll leave most of the details to the full review, I like Cathay Pacific’s premium economy soft product. I like that you can get egg tarts out of Hong Kong on request between meals, and some of the meal options are legitimately delicious.
Cathay Pacific 777 Premium Economy Class Mid-flight Snack
The main course for my first meal service was created in partnership with Yat Tung Heen, and it definitely was one of the best meals I’ve had in premium economy, despite not being extremely craftily presented.
I have a couple of observations that I’ll detail more during the full review:
- I think the drinks selection is too scaled back compared to business class – they should at least keep Cathay Delight on, or have a couple of other cocktail or specialty drinks options apart from their signature Betsy beer. Wines and prosecco aren’t impressive either
- The service flow feels very slow and assembly line-esque, and despite the first meal service all being served on one tray, the tray took 65 minutes to clear, which is borderline unacceptable
- Despite the crew being very friendly, they weren’t especially polished, e.g. calling items “beef with rice”/”fish with potato” as opposed to “braised beef brisket”/”pan fried halibut” as the menu stated – compare that to KLM, where I was addressed by name and had my full meal order taken before takeoff
My awesome first main course in Cathay Pacific premium economy
Conclusion: Cathay Pacific’s New 777 Premium Economy
I’m glad I got the chance to fly Cathay Pacific’s 777 premium economy, and it’s probably one of the best in the air. I appreciate the tech and storage push, which the airline leads the industry on. However, this really isn’t a huge leap ahead of their already excellent A350 premium economy product, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly it.
Have you flown Cathay Pacific’s new 777 premium economy before?