My understanding is that was very much a crux of discussions: the comfort and familiarity of passengers with the current style & layout vs the risk & gains of Something Different.

It's worth bearing in mind that Cathay adopted the Zodiac Cirrus in 2011, so we are now looking at a platform that's a decade old. This does not of itself mean the product is bad – however it does mean that there's been a decade for competitors to either catch up or vault ahead.

And it's the latter which airlines tend to focus on, at least when they've the cash and market positioning (actual or desired) to do so: if you only play catch-up, then you risk falling behind even quicker over successive years.

So, my understanding is that the 'vault ahead' option weighed heavily in discussions. Exactly how heavily, and if that weight tipped the balance and won the argument, remains to be seen.