{"id":100414,"date":"2025-02-21T00:07:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T00:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/airline\/cathay-pacific-a350-premium-economy-airlinereporter\/"},"modified":"2025-02-21T00:07:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T00:07:37","slug":"cathay-pacific-a350-premium-economy-airlinereporter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=100414","title":{"rendered":"Cathay Pacific A350 Premium Economy : AirlineReporter"},"content":{"rendered":"


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I love writing about long-haul premium economy. Mostly because the judgement comes down to one straightforward question: does the product feel like economy with a bit of extra, or more like business class lite? Seats in the first category do enough to take the pain out of the coach class space crunch. Which, to be fair, is what premium economy was designed to do. But seats in that second category delight in their own right, enough that you might even go out of your way to fly them.<\/p>\n

We put Cathay Pacific\u2019s long-haul premium economy to that test over the course of two flights on their Airbus A350 subfleet. Those planes are capable of handling some seriously lengthy routes. In our case, between a flight from New York to Hong Kong and then a connection on to Sydney, we spent over 25 hours onboard. <\/p>\n

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What did we think after all that time putting the seat and service to the test? Read on to find out. Plus we have plenty of video, including a nose-cam and tail-cam treat at the end. <\/p>\n

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Cathay\u2019s premium economy experience started differentiating itself as soon as we got to the airport, thanks to a dedicated check-in line. <\/p>\n

At JFK Cathay operates out of Terminal 8, which hosts American Airlines and its oneworld partners. <\/p>\n

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The terminal has a lineup of American Airlines logos from past to present. Do you have a favorite?<\/p>\n

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We spent a while walking around taking in views of the ramp. In the background of the picture below you can see the Cathay Pacific A350-1000 operating our flight. <\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a view up close. <\/p>\n

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Meet the seat<\/h2>\n

Cathay Pacific was excited to start receiving A350-1000 deliveries back in 2018<\/a>, and the airline is clearly still enthusiastic about the plane. There are some specific design features that expand the -1000\u2019s capability beyond what the airline\u2019s A350-900s can handle. <\/p>\n

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Credit: Cathay Pacific and Bay Leung<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cathay has some 777-9s on order too but they won\u2019t be joining the fleet for a year or two. <\/p>\n

The premium economy cabin has space for 32 passengers, in the form of four rows of seats 2-4-2-across. On the A350-900 premium economy passengers have to walk back to the bathrooms in economy. But on the -1000 the cabin has it\u2019s own dedicated lav. <\/p>\n

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There\u2019s one fewer passenger per row here than in regular economy, and that additional space is divided up among the remaining eight seats. It\u2019s enough to allow for noticeably more elbow room, with wider armrests in between the seats. <\/p>\n

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The A350-1000 only started joining the fleet five years ago, and so the cabin finishes still look fresh. <\/p>\n

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These seats boast a 12-inch screen, a couple inches larger than the screens on the 777 fleet. The seat back also has a tablet stand, coat hook, and large literature pocket. <\/p>\n

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The crew came around with welcome drinks in real glassware \u2013 a Business Class Lite touch.<\/p>\n

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On pushback we got a look at some of the American Airlines fleet. <\/p>\n

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Check out our video below for highlights from taxi and takeoff, including a look down Concorde\u2019s favorite runway (31L\/13R), a view of JFK from above, a panorama of the Manhattan skyline, and a few minutes of skimming the tops of the clouds on our way to cruise altitude. <\/p>\n

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