Originally Posted by
antebellum
CX ordered tons of 777X to replace 777-300ER. A350 is served more to replace current mid-longhaul A330 routes (SYD/MEL/BNE)
Anyway, the default Boeing seat configuration for 777X is 3-4-3, given the marginally wider space.
Actually, CX has "ordered" 21 777X. The a350 is fundamentally a long-haul aircraft (as witnessed by the fact that it serves CX's current longest route HKG-IAD) albeit that because it is a highly flexible aircraft it is also capable of efficiently operating medium to long routes such as Aus. As for the future market for the 777X and whether operators such as Cathay are likely to order "tons" of them given the economics and increasing payload capacity of the s350 and 787 families, you might want to check out interesting discussions on this topic on other forums such as airliners.net.