Cathay Pacific Airways is introducing new aircraft and cabin designs on its North America and Middle East routes to attract more business and first-class passengers.
The first Boeing 777-300 ER (extended range) left Everett, Washington for delivery to Cathay in Hong Kong on Friday. The planes will be equipped with full-flat beds in business class and fixed-shell seats in economy class for all long-haul flights.
Forty-four planes will be retrofitted with the new seating by 2009. Cathay also is buying 22 B777-300 ERs to be delivered by 2011, said Cathay chief executive Tony Tyler.
'We've done lots of research and found that what passengers want in long-haul flights are comfort and privacy,' he said. The 'fish-bone' configuration in business class arranges seats head-to-head in the middle of the cabin with a high partition so that passengers cannot see each other when they lie down.
The 'more privacy, less interaction' configuration will be used in non-stop service to New York on November 15 after a month-long trial run. The delivery will increase New York service to thrice daily.
In economy class, all seats are embedded in a fixed shell, and recline within it, eliminating the annoyance to passengers sitting behind.