While we generally encourage people to pay more attention to different types of premium cabin products here at The Alviator, this particular case is one for the nerds, since there are very minimal material differences between Cathay Pacific’s refreshed and non-refreshed business class products.
Cathay Pacific’s 13-year-old regional business class product got a mid-life refresh this year on some aircraft. These refreshed business class seats feature different upholstery and USB-C charging, and some of the finishes are updated – otherwise, they are identical to the old business class product. The airline is still in the process of finalising brand-new fully flat regional business class seats for their A330s, which will be introduced in 2026.
What are the differences between Cathay Pacific’s refreshed and non-refreshed business class products?
Cathay Pacific’s refreshed regional business class seats are beige, reflecting the business class cabin design onboard their A321neos and their 777 Aria Suite. While only some planes are getting the refresh, these planes cover most of Cathay Pacific’s regional business class configurations (including the regional 777, and all types of regional A330s). The only configuration you’re guaranteed the old product is if you’re on Cathay Pacific’s A330 with 42 business class seats.
I gotta say, while I love the design of the Aria Suite, the cabin colours don’t translate in the same way once you remove the soft lighting and brass finishes. I flew China Eastern earlier this week, and I wouldn’t call their cabin colours inspiring – Cathay Pacific’s new regional business class cabin colours are even less exciting.
Cathay Pacific A330 Refreshed Regional Business Class Cabin
Meanwhile, their older regional business class cabin featured a perhaps slightly less mature, but definitely less drab sea green.
Cathay Pacific A330 Non-Refreshed Business Class Cabin
So, what else is different? Firstly, the airline installed USB-C charging at every seat. That was great news for me (since all my devices use USB-C charging at the moment), but some may mind the fact that isn’t a USB-A port at the seat at all.
Cathay Pacific A330 Refreshed Regional Business Class Charging
Secondly, the older regional business class product used to have some phone holders. This was handy, though the catch is that they can only hold phones as big as an iPhone 5 – neither of the latest-generation phones fit. So unless you have a very old phone or an instant camera, this was a dated and more or less useless storage nook.
Cathay Pacific decided to do away with the storage nook completely. I would’ve appreciated if they widened the nook so they could fit some of the newer-generation phones, though that’s not how the airline chose to refresh these seats.
Cathay Pacific A330 Refreshed vs. Non-Refreshed Business Class Phone Holders
Lastly, the cabin definitely feels newer (as parts have been replaced in the meantime), and the seats don’t feel like they’re falling apart. For example, instead of headrest covers, the seats had more easily cleanable leather headrests.
However, they still weren’t perfect – I put my bag under the seat in front of me during takeoff, and it slid towards me during our initial climbout, actually dragging part of the roof of the footwell with it.
Surely the airline can do better than this…
Which Cathay Pacific aircraft have these regional business class seats?
According to gavinchan180 on FlyerTalk, the following aircraft have the refreshed new regional business class seats:
- A330 (24 seats in business class): B-HLM, B-HLN, B-HLO, B-HLT, B-HLU, B-HLV
- A330 (50 seats in business class, including 8 reverse herringbone): B-HYG, B-HYJ, B-HYQ. These planes used to have Cathay Dragon’s first class, though Cathay Pacific doesn’t sell those seats as first class anymore
- 777 (42 seats in business class): B-HNE, B-HNF, B-HNG, B-HNI, B-HNU, B-HNV, B-HNN, B-HNP
These aircraft will get the retrofit soon:
- 777 (42 seats in business class): B-HNH, B-HNJ, B-HNK, B-HNM, B-HNO, B-HNQ, B-HNW, B-HNX
These aircraft won’t get the retrofit at all:
- A330 (42 seats in business class): B-LAA and B-LAB will be returned to their lessor soon, B-HWM and B-LBD will get the new A330 lie-flat seats in 2026
- A330 (24 seats in business class): B-LBE, B-LBF, B-LBG, B-LBH, B-LBI, B-LBK will get the new A330 lie-flat seats in 2026
All widebody aircraft not listed above have longhaul business class seats installed.
Do note that Cathay Pacific has a separate, slightly improved regional business class seat altogether on their A321neos. It’s probably worth writing a post in the future about whether I prefer flying Cathay Pacific’s regional business class onboard their 777s/A330s or A321neos, as there are drawbacks to flying business class on a narrowbody aircraft. However, in essence these seats are newer, feature Bluetooth audio, and have privacy partitions between seats, which the 777s/A330s don’t have.
Cathay Pacific’s A321neos feature a different (and more updated) regional business class product
As mentioned above, the airline is also gearing up to introduce a new regional business class seat in 2026. We already know that this seat will be fully flat (but not if it will have direct aisle access or not), and it will be featured onboard the carrier’s A330neos. The above stated A330s will also receive this new business class seat.
The 777s won’t get these new seats, which is a little disappointing, especially since Cathay Pacific plans to operate these 777s into the early 2030s. This means that Cathay Pacific’s current-generation regional business class seats will be around for quite a while.
Which routes does Cathay Pacific’s refreshed regional business class fly?
Whether you’ll get Cathay Pacific’s refreshed regional business class or not is a complete luck of the draw – there’s no way of telling on the seatmap. The only way you can tell you’re definitely getting the refreshed regional business class is if your plane shows a seatmap with eight reverse herringbone seats and 42 business class seats, and you’re definitely not getting the refreshed regional business class seats if your flight features 42 business class seats and no reverse herringbone seats.
However, I’ve been monitoring where Cathay Pacific’s new regional business class planes have been flying. I feel like they are prioritising putting these newer planes on higher-yield routes, such as to Beijing and Shanghai, Tokyo Haneda, and Singapore, and sending their non-refreshed planes to lower-yield destinations such as Manila, Phuket, Chongqing, etc.. That’s not absolute by any means.
In either case, I’d still recommend you try and find a flight operated by Cathay Pacific’s longhaul business class, avoiding their regional business class entirely. While I’d call their refreshed regional business class a marginal upgrade, the changes are so small that they’re almost not worth caring about.
It’s worth seeking out a longhaul Cathay Pacific plane operating a shorthaul flight, if possible
Conclusion
Out of the aircraft that feature Cathay Pacific’s current regional business class, 17 have the new seats, 8 are in line to get the new seats, and 10 won’t get the new seats (as they’re waiting for their lease to end, or about to be retrofitted with Cathay Pacific’s new regional business class in 2026). This means that if you know you’re flying Cathay Pacific’s regional business class, you’ve got an approximately 50% chance of getting the refreshed regional business class seats.
This is more avgeek speak than anything, since there’s no significant material difference between the refreshed and non-refreshed products. In either case, I’d recommend trying to book yourself onto a flight operated by an aircraft featuring their longhaul business class seats. Cathay Pacific will be introducing a new lie-flat regional business class product in 2026, which should bring it more in line with competitor Singapore Airlines on their highest-yield regional routes.
Have you flown Cathay Pacific’s refreshed regional business class before? Are there any details I’ve missed?
