New 330 Layout
 

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/...7862d0a2_z.jpg

was surprised to see this, when I was booking for a trip to BKK this August.
J now only have 4 rows...Im hoping CX doesn't follow the trend of doing 9-abreast in economy.

New code dubbed "33P". They still have some integrity, they won't be going 9 abreast. However, they plan to cram more seats in the back from 265-293 seats.

The 73Z will also be reconfigured for a total of 425 seats.

Makes sense. On many of my short haul flights, J is often full with OpUps as Y is oversold. They need more Y seats.

It is already J42 Y356. the addition to 425 is a marginal 27 seat where they most likely will only to remove 2 rows of J. Makes flying CX shorthaul like flying Scoot

Yippee - less J redemption availability and lower probability for op-ups.

What are they thinking? CX are supposed to be a premium carrier and here they are trying to take the "most densely packed plane" award away from 5J :td:

It's hardly surprising. CX is increasingly rammed in Y on the regional routes.

If they moved to 9 abreast on the A330 I would probably start flying SQ.

futile resistance. airlines know money is made by premium cabins not by sardine packed Y cabin often willed with N, Q or S farecodes. it goes to prove they are not selling J class.

dont forget staff travels. you would be surprised how many J seats go to Id90 type of fares.

conclusion is they are pathetic at yield management thus crappy airlinr

Is CX deploying this A333 configuration only on certain routes or just about any intra-asia route? I mean I can see why CX would put this on say HKG-MNL but may be not on HKG-SIN?

Actually this is for the August long weekend in the Philippines, quite surprised they are not using the 73Z instead, since normally there would be more passengers leaving Manila on this day.

I don't see the big deal. 73Z is already packed tight with 398 seats. Who cares if 27 seats get added. It would be one thing if J was already a lovely experience and now a downgrade is coming.....but

....in fact, J on 73Z is probably the most unpleasant of any bird in the CX fleet, it's oversized plus there is the dreaded middle seat in J which is exclusive to the 777-300 and 777-200 regionals.

If CX achieves those 27 extra seats capacity by downsizing J and thus making the cabin a little more pleasant, I'm all for it. The plane already is full blown cattle car status, 27 extra Y seats in favor of fewer J seats might actually make for a nicer ride. Y will hardly change and J could actually feel quite a bit nicer.

But with respect to 73Z, 2-3-2 in J is still 2-3-2 no matter how many rows you cut...

this is true.

i guess i didn't really finish my thought. in essence: i'm not a fan of any business class in CX's regional configs...I think they all kinda suck. This includes 73Z, 772 and 33Z. For the following reasons:

1.) J has lots of seats, feels like a bus. All three regional configs have 40+ J seats. It seems like a ton of seats in each config. The a330 accomplishes this with more rows, the 777s have fewer rows but offer the 7 abreast configuration (vs 6 abreast in 33Z) by offering the lovely middle J seat.

Practically speaking, the sheer # of people in J class means service can be slow, and half the cabin is often op-ups. Overall I have to imagine by reducing the size of the regional J cabins, perhaps some soft amenities would improve. Even if it just meant a slightly more attentive FA.

2.) I don't like the seats. The "new" regional J is better than the old regional J in that we now get reliable in-seat power, USB and AVOD...however, I dislike just about everything else about the seat. I guess they kinda look "spiffy" the first time or two you fly them, but the more I fly them the more I can't stand them. If I had a choice I'd rather fly in the PEY seat than the regional J seat. I find the former far more comfortable particularly for 3-4 hour journeys.

3.) I don't like the 7 abreast (middle seat), exclusive to the regional 777s.

So I guess the crux of my poorly-stated case in the previous post is this:

*While there appears to be no relief on the horizon for #2 and #3, at least #1 could be addressed and improve the J experience on one of CX's regional birds. If J gets downsized on 73Z in favor of more Y seats, I could actually see that as an upgrade, not a downgrade. I really don't think it matters if 27 more Y seats get added, since Y is already a cattle car on that bird. I've sat in Y on CX's regional 777-300s many, many times and frankly it's not too bad. I really don't mind at all. It's Y class, regional, there's usually enough overhead bin space, service is acceptable, in-seat power works, AVOD works, it gets me from A to B, what else to expect. Food isn't great but that is irrelevant to which configuration I'm flying. I really don't mind it at all and kinda enjoy being on such a large plane with so many people. And if you're flying in J class on 73Z in the future after the proposed changes, perhaps J class will be a bit more exclusive and improved!

I think more and more companies are restricting travel to economy for regional flights, so I think they are thinking they are matching supply/ demand. Everyone where I work flies economy for flights under 8 hours, even the CEO

Tell that to Ryanair.

If they can pack them tightly enough, Y is still a money maker. These will probably only see the light of day on routes where the premium demand isn't there - like MNL.

except Ryanair is based on different business model and cost base.

lets face the truth, CX aint selling their regional J not because corporates are cutting back on travel. the fact is consumer cant justify the crappy product for the price cx offers on its regional product... also ex hkg fare is astronomically lunatic (last check hkg hnd J going at 4K usd where i can buy ex tpe J to sydney at 2.5k USD.)

all the observations from other posts are valid... full of op ups or staff travels, a "screw you" attitude of equipment lotto where you can end up in a middle of 2-3-2 for last mintue hkg sin trip (often most expensive fare), cabin feeling like a bus, and declining service that merits its own PhD thesis.

lets not forget the fact we have sufficient affluent class in HK and asia to fill up their regional J cabin, but cx got their strategy wrong so screw them. Soon enough you will see for ports like Manila have their J class eliminated the way they go downhill.

let me repeat... a successful airline will not have trouble selling their seat to highest bidder, and cx aint one of them

Noone said anything about business models and cost bases. You just made a daft claim.

PR sends more densely packed aircraft than this to HKG and on occasion even sends an all Y A330 with 400+ seats. In some markets there just isn't the demand for J.

I think one of the reasons why there is low demand for J class in PR is the fact that most premium travelers fly on Cathay, plus those with onward long haul connections from HK, as opposed to those just flying into HK (which I think makes most of PRs passengers)