| THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT The food on this flight was better than I was expecting, though this is my least favourite seat in Cathay Pacific's economy portfolio – which is a shame, given that these A350s operate the airline's longest flights. It was still an easy and comfortable flight in the grand scheme of things, though, with good amenities, inflight entertainment, and WiFi | 4.0 |
While we review premium economy and business class cabins on the regular here at The Alviator, I’d like to start reviewing some longhaul economy class cabins as well. I’ve flown Cathay Pacific extensively over the past few years, though I’ve mainly been privileged to try their business class and premium economy cabins, which have evolved quite a bit over the years. Part of this is because I go out of my way to try and seek out award space in premium cabins, though I’m also actively invested in reviewing different premium economy cabins between Asia and Europe.
I’ve not quite got the miles or cash balance to pay for two (at all, let alone in a premium cabin) just yet, so when the opportunity arose for J and I to fly to Sydney, I took it as an opportunity to review an economy class product. Economy class products have evolved a bit over the years – while the focus in the 2010s was to increase capacity (as airlines moved to 3-3-3 configurations on 787s and 3-4-3 configurations on 777s), lately we’ve seen airlines invest a little more in seat design, ergonomics, and in-seat tech, mainly because there’s not much room anymore to squeeze in even more seats than before.
I was quite keen to fly Cathay Pacific’s longhaul economy class as a benchmark – I used to fly it quite often, but haven’t actually done so in a very long time. Since there was award space going directly from London to Sydney, I decided to pick up a Cathay Pacific economy class ticket, successfully convincing J to do the same.
Booking Cathay Pacific’s A350 Economy Class
I booked a one-way economy class ticket from London to Sydney, which cost 38,000 Asia Miles and HK$3,512 (£330) in taxes and surcharges. The itinerary was as follows:
01/03/26 Cathay Pacific 256 London (LHR) – Hong Kong (HKG) dep. 20:15 arr. 16:55+1 (Economy Class)
02/03/26 Cathay Pacific 101 Hong Kong (HKG) – Sydney (SYD) dep. 23:55 arr. 12:00+1 (Economy Class)
Given that a one-way from London to Hong Kong costs 27,000 miles in economy, I thought that paying an “extra” 11,000 miles to Sydney was not bad at all. The high taxes and fees were a combination of an accumulation of carrier surcharges across the two segments, as well as the UK APD, which is smaller but still significant for longhaul economy routes. I mainly chose a route that would allow me to sample both the airline’s A350 economy and their new 777 economy (which we subsequently flew down to Sydney), and the longer layover in Hong Kong also allowed us to maximise time with my family.
For the record, J’s cash ticket was arguably even better value, at £870 roundtrip (I’m generally willing to pay a little more one-way to sample new cabin products, and in this case the outbound would’ve contributed to a majority of this cash fare anyway, due to the UK APD).
Cathay Pacific Economy Class Ground Experience at Heathrow Airport
Cathay Pacific operates from Heathrow’s Terminal 3, which was very smooth to get through. I managed to get a mobile boarding pass all the way to Sydney, and bag drop was very quick – those on an Economy Light fare and/or a redemption ticket are entitled to one check-in bag, weighing a maximum of 23 kg.
We had some time to spare, so visited the AmEx Centurion lounge. Boarding was scheduled for 7:45 PM, 30 minutes before departure, though it ended up starting a bit earlier at 7:35 PM (as indicated by the departures boards). While I’m generally used to Cathay Pacific planes boarding by the very end of the terminal (by gates 40-42), in this case we were boarding through gate 7, very close to where the Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges are.
Cathay Pacific newly boards by boarding group. Non-status economy class passengers start boarding from group 4, beginning from the back few rows of the plane. We were seated in row 65, so were invited to board with group 5.
Cathay Pacific Flight CX256
Sunday, March 1, 2026
Origin: London Heathrow (LHR) T: 3 Gate: 7 Dep: 20:15 (20:10)
Destination: Hong Kong (HKG) Gate: 60 Arr: 16:55+1 (16:10+1)
Duration: 12 hr 40 min (12 hr)
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900 Reg: B-LQF
Seat: 65A (Economy Class)
We boarded through the second set of doors, and headed through the rear business class cabin, as well as the premium economy cabin. I’ve walked through Cathay Pacific’s A350 economy class cabin many times before, though I was sure curious to see what it would actually be like to sit in here for a long time!
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Cabin and Seat
Cathay Pacific’s two A350 variants feature different economy class seats. This version was the airline’s A350-900 (shorter, but much more abundant), which features economy class seats from London design consultancy Tangerine. These seats were introduced in 2016, and I remember first seeing them when flying my first-ever A350 flight from Taipei to Hong Kong.
These seats are laid-out in a 3-3-3 configuration, with 214 seats total. The smaller forward cabin features 78 seats, whereas the larger rear cabin features 136 seats.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Cabin
To Cathay Pacific’s credit, these seats are very comfortable to sit in. The A350 is a comfortable plane, and the seats have good padding and back support – they also felt fresh, especially for a 5.5-year-old aircraft that frequently flew longhaul flights. Recline was also quite good.
The novel thing about these A350 seats are the headrest design, where the headrest “wings” flip outwards. I genuinely found this comfortable, and wished that more airlines would have this setup. If anything, I wish the material cradling the head would’ve been made of a more comfortable material, and I wish the headrests flipped out even more, so there was a wider space to rest my head.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Recline and Adjustable Headrest
Otherwise, these seats have 32″ seat pitch, and I had no complaints with legroom. The one thing is that at my window seat, there was a metal frame that slightly obstructed legroom. However, this was far enough to the side that it didn’t bother me too much.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Legroom
In terms of seat features, there was a flip-out tablet holder underneath the TV screen, which revealed a little storage pocket (more on this later). The tablet holder also featured a cupholder.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Storage and Tablet Holder
The tray table was bi-fold, large, and sturdy, though frustratingly it didn’t pull out too much.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Table
When they were both out at the same time, the tablet holder was in the way. You can’t use the storage pocket inside the tablet holder unless the tablet holder is deployed, so using the tray-table and the storage pocket is an either-or situation.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Storage and Table
As you can see below, this is what it looks like to use a laptop when you’re trying to make use of the storage pocket at the same time.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Storage Design Flaw
I considered this to be a major design flaw. The only other available storage at this seat is in the main seat pocket, so making the tray table extendable (or slightly changing the design of the tablet holder) would’ve been such an easy fix, in my opinion.
In terms of other seat features, there’s a USB-A port underneath the TV. There’s no USB-C charging here, sadly – the seat design is 10 years old, and USB-C ports weren’t a thing back then.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Power Port
Additionally, there was also a universal power port at every seat. The trend nowadays is to have power ports shared between economy seats, so I was quite happy to see that this wasn’t the case here.
As a final note, seat selection isn’t free if you’re on an Economy Light ticket or on a redemption ticket, unless you have Oneworld Ruby status or above. If you have a Cathay Pacific frequent flyer number attached to your booking, you can check in 48 hours before departure – otherwise, it’s 24 hours before departure. So if you credit your miles to another Oneworld frequent flyer programme and don’t have status, you’ll have to wait until 24 hours before departure in order to select your seat for free (unlike Singapore Airlines, which explicitly lets you put in a second frequent flyer programme number so you can collect miles with them while enjoying Singapore Airlines benefits).
I selected my window seat 48 hours before departure, though we ended up biting the bullet and choosing J’s middle seat next to me for £35 (HK$371), as seats were filling up fast.
Overall, the seat is comfortable, and easy to get some rest in. However, I wish the storage situation at this seat was better thought out, as they were very close to having a very thoughtful setup. Since Cathay Pacific’s other economy class seats are also very well-designed, I actually find this seat to be much weaker than the seats on Cathay Pacific’s 777s and A350-1000s – this would be my last pick if I had a few frequencies to choose from, all else being equal.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Amenities
Waiting at my seat I found a pillow and blanket. The pillow was Cathay Pacific’s signature design, with one rough side and one smooth side (so passengers could choose).
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Pillow
The blanket was soft and substantial, one of the better economy class blankets I’ve used.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Blanket
There were also headphones. Economy class headphones are never great, though I was pleased to see that these were over-ear, as opposed to some of the crappy in-ear earphones you get on some other airlines. Sadly none of Cathay Pacific’s A350s have Bluetooth audio on their IFEs, even if they’re updated to the latest entertainment system – this is specific to their A321neos and new 777 aircraft.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Headphones
I also found the menu, which I’ll be going through later on in the post. It’s nice that the airline gives bespoke printed menus to economy passengers.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Menu
There aren’t any amenity kits or anything fancy here, though I was able to get quite comfortable in this seat with the amenities provided.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Entertainment System
When I first got to my seat, the entertainment system was still rebooting. Thankfully, I didn’t have that many issues with it over the course of the flight.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Entertainment System
I like the default homepage, which features a timeline of the flight (the drinks and middle meal service signify that you can order some snacks at any point between meal services).
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Entertainment System Timeline
The actual entertainment selection was also good, and I found the interface to be easy to use. The entertainment system featured a good number of movies and entire series of TV shows – I didn’t count, though apparently there are over 3,000 selections, featuring over 4,500 hours of watch content. I’m not the biggest movie person (I tried watching In The Heights with J for a bit, though my brain was too tired to follow the storyline), though J was pleased with the movie selection onboard.
While the entertainment system lacked Bluetooth audio (once again, only available on A321neo and new 777 aircraft for now), these planes did feature a “Watch Together” feature, which allowed you to sync up your movie with someone else on the flight.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Movies and TV Shows
One unfortunate thing about this flight was that the tail camera was broken. I love the high-definition tail camera on Cathay Pacific’s A350s, though it just didn’t load on this flight. There’s a front-facing camera which did work, though I particularly love the view of being able to see the aircraft fuselage.
The moving map was super intuitive, however, and I really liked the interface as well.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Map
Between a solid entertainment system and the fact that the airline has WiFi, you won’t go bored onboard a Cathay Pacific longhaul flight.
Taking off from Heathrow Airport
At 7:55 PM, the captain came onto the PA, announcing that there were a couple more passengers to “load” onboard, and that we were expecting a rather quick flying time of 11h 35m. This was a couple of weeks after Chinese New Year, and coupled with the escalating situation in the Middle East, every single seat on this plane went out full.
The safety video was screened at around 8:05 PM, and at 8:10 PM we pushed back, taxiing towards runway 27R where we’d be departing.
Taxiing at Heathrow Airport
Random musing – while I’ve flown Cathay Pacific on this route countless times, this is the first time I’d picked this specific frequency, leaving London at 8:15 PM. I quite like leaving at this time, since I can be relatively awake for the meal service, before being tired enough to sleep for the rest of the journey – in fact, it’s within an hour of when British Airways’ sole flight to Hong Kong leaves over the summer season, which also has a schedule that I enjoy. I think I prefer it to some of the departures earlier in the evening based on scheduling alone (including the frequency leaving a couple of hours earlier, which features the Aria Suite and new premium economy class).
At this point the cabin lights were dimmed, preparing for our nighttime departure.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Cabin with Dimmed Cabin Lights
Our flight was at the beginning of March, so this marked the very beginning of the U.S.-Iran conflict. I was on my fourth plane at Heathrow that week (and had even had a really fun planespotting morning a few days prior, right before everything kicked off), and it was surreal to know that the various Emirates A380s lying around were now grounded for a while.
Taxiing at Heathrow Airport
We took off at 8:30 PM after a 20-minute taxi, 15 minutes after our scheduled departure time.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Lavatory
After takeoff I decided to visit the lavatory. Cathay Pacific has six lavatories in their A350 economy class cabin, and they’re also shared with premium economy, as premium economy passengers don’t have a dedicated lavatory. That’s a 40:1 passenger to lavatory ratio, which is on the better side for economy class.
As is standard on Cathay Pacific flights, the economy lavatories featured Nobility toiletries.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Lavatory
It’s worth noting that these lavatories really deteriorated in condition during the flight, more so than many of the Cathay Pacific flights I’ve had in the past (regardless of cabin). That’s not a reflection on the crew, though it wasn’t a pleasant place to be by the end of the flight.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class WiFi
Cathay Pacific features WiFi onboard their longhaul fleet, and this A350 was no exception. WiFi is chargeable in economy class, as follows:
- A one-hour pass cost US$9.95 (£7.34/HK$78)
- A full-flight pass cost US$21.95 (£16.2/HK$172)
I purchased a full-flight pass. WiFi speeds were very good on this evening flight, and a speed test actually measured 54.3 Mbps down and 3.39 Mbps up. Cathay Pacific has no plans to introduce Starlink WiFi onboard their planes.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Post-Takeoff Meal Service
After takeoff, the cabin lights were turned on, in preparation for the meal service.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Cabin After Takeoff
The menu read as follows:
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Menu
In addition, there was also a snacks and drinks menu, which read as follows:
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Snacks and Beverages Menu
To begin there was a drinks service, which came alongside a bag of peanuts. I decided to ask for a red wine – I didn’t catch what Cathay Pacific was serving, but I enjoyed it.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Drinks Service
While the meal service was happening, mood lighting was put on. It was quite a bit of a wait until we got our mains, so I alternated between scrolling on my phone a little bit, and watching a movie with J.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Mood Lighting,
As people seated fairly close to the back, we were served at 10:40 PM London time, just over two hours after departure. At this point they were out of the sliced pork with black vinegar sauce (which I was interested in trying), so J and I just both had the seared chicken breast with mustard sauce.
I was expecting to get some tough, dry, pale chicken, so was actually very surprised to see moist cubes of chicken complete with a flavourful, hard sear. The mustard sauce was quite delicious as well, and I also enjoyed the vegetables (spinach, carrot, potatoes) that came with it. With this we were given ice cream as well.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Meal Service
Also, while I should’ve taken a photo of it separately, the cold bulgur wheat salad with chicken in the top left corner was also very nice and flavourful. I’m a fan of the thought that Cathay Pacific puts into their side salads. My one observation was that chicken breast was on the meal twice, so I would’ve perhaps preferred either a different protein (even if vegetarian, such as tofu), or at least a different cut of chicken.
Alongside this, a warm bread roll was served, with some cheese and crackers. At some point we were also given a drinks refill (I passed).
While I obviously would’ve preferred to have my first choice, I was pleasantly surprised by the catering quality onboard Cathay Pacific’s economy class product. It’s also nice that there were three options to choose from in economy, albeit one of them being unavailable – I know that some airlines only have two.
Finally, while the main did take a while to arrive, I was impressed that tray tables were cleared 30 minutes after they were served. I’ve experienced much longer in premium cabins (especially in premium economy), and was happy to have an empty tray table shortly after I finished my meal. The crew weren’t particularly personable or engaging (unlike on my next flight, which admittedly was much emptier), though I was pleased by their efficiency.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Service Between Meals
After the meal service concluded, some sunset mood lighting was turned on, before the cabin got completely dark.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Dimmed Cabin Lights
I figured I’d try to get some sleep, but not before having one of Cathay Pacific’s signature cup noodles. Cathay Pacific serves cup noodles in between meals on all flights over 10 hours, so this excludes Australia, but includes all of the U.S., Europe, and New Zealand. The crew don’t come around with cup noodles, so you’ll have to request them (though it’s explicitly on the menu and they’re happy to accommodate, and those who fly the airline on the regular generally know about this).
The cup noodles were good as usual – it’s an inexpensive way to keep customers happy between meal services, though do note that the airline doesn’t serve these while the seatbelt sign is on.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Cup Noodles
Other options included fruit and some galley snacks – I didn’t spot a setup in the galley, though the crew came over with snacks to people who ordered them.
On flights ex-Hong Kong you get egg tarts as well, though this isn’t included on inbound flights to Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific Economy Class Egg Tarts
Overall, between the (unlimited) instant noodle selection, the WiFi, and the excellent entertainment system, it was easy to stay entertained during the flight. I did end up sleeping for quite a bit, and managed to do so quite well, which I’m sure the supportive seat and adjustable headrest contributed to.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Pre-Landing Meal Service
Around 2h 30m before landing, the cabin lights were turned on, and the crew commenced the pre-landing meal service. I believe the cabin crew work the opposite direction for the breakfast service, so those that were served last get their first choice of what to eat.
This time both breakfast options were available, and J and I decided to choose different meals, just to try them out. J chose the salted pork and mushroom congee, which was standard, though flavourful.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Meal – Salted Pork and Mushroom Congee
Meanwhile, I chose the Western breakfast. I was less of a fan of this – the potatoes were a bit soggy, and the eggs were okay. The cheddar cheese gave the eggs some flavour (particularly as your tastebuds are numbed at a higher altitude) and the sausage was good, though overall I wasn’t a massive fan.
Cathay Pacific A350 Economy Class Meal – Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese
Both meals were served with some fruit and yoghurt, and we were offered drinks as well (I had a coffee – not pictured).
Landing into Hong Kong Airport
After getting a bit more work done, it was time to land into Hong Kong Airport. The captain announced our imminent landing as well as the weather conditions in Hong Kong (ending with the classic “cabin crew, 30 minutes until landing”).
We landed into Hong Kong Airport from the west side, so there wasn’t really much in the way of views, sadly.
Landing into Hong Kong Airport
We touched down on runway 07R at 4:05 PM, a full 50 minutes before our scheduled arrival time. It was then a short and sweet taxi to gate 60, and we were parked by 4:10 PM, 45 minutes ahead of our arrival time.
At this point we bid farewell to the A350 that had taken us over from London. My dad picked us up from the airport, and we had a great dinner at home, before continuing on to Sydney later in the evening.
Cathay Pacific A350 at Hong Kong Airport
Conclusion: Cathay Pacific’s A350 Economy Class
Flying Cathay Pacific’s A350 economy class felt easy on this nighttime flight. The seat was comfortable to sleep in with an innovative headrest, the food was pretty good overall with some strong choices, there was unlimited instant noodles (not even considering the egg tarts you get when flying out of Hong Kong) and drinks, the entertainment system was solid, and there was WiFi and good in-seat power as well.
I’ve got to point out the couple of seat flaws, though. Given the situation with the tablet holder, unfortunately usable storage is very limited at this seat, especially if you want to work. That’s not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things – the seat is still good relative to some economy seats I’ve flown on other airlines (including competitor British Airways, which also has a seat with average storage), though I thought it had the potential to be much better. This is sort of a shame, since these A350-900s operate some of the airline’s longest routes, including to New York.
Given the strength of Cathay Pacific’s other economy class products, this is the weakest seat in the portfolio, in my opinion. I’d even put this seat below the “old” 777 seats on non-Aria Suite equipped aircraft, since the actual 777 seats have a newer (and presumably iteratively improved) design – and that’s albeit the 777 seats being ever so slightly narrower. It’s certainly not better than the newer seat on the A350-1000s.
I’m keen to see how some other leading airlines compare to Cathay Pacific in longhaul economy class. Overall, I’d recommend them (especially since I found the flight to be easy and the soft product to be good) – however, I’d probably recommend their 777s or A350-1000s if possible, especially on a route with multiple frequencies such as to London, New York, Sydney, etc..
For those who fly Cathay Pacific economy class often, how does this compare to other longhaul economy products you’ve flown?
