Cathay Pacific customers can now slip into something more comfortable on long-haul flights as airline adds mattress and slipper upgrade

Business-class travellers on Cathay Pacific Airways will fly even more comfortably from October, with sources at the airline saying it would be offering free mattresses and slippers to customers.

Amid keen competition from other premium carriers in the region, the new investment comes despite Hong Kong’s largest airline reporting on Thursday a weaker May and warning of a worse outlook for the business.

It warned of a revenue slowdown marred again by intense competition directed at its long-haul operations. “Overall yield has come under tremendous pressure,” Cathay Pacific said, in unusually stark language.

Despite the trade war, the company has described its business as robust thanks to stronger business travel and premium bookings. But its offering is under scrutiny as rivals add new hardware and products at the higher end of commercial air travel.