International 3-Cabin United First suite is now worse than BA's F...Ha..

Last time I checked, UA put 12 F suites in the 744's nose, while BA crammed in 14 of their seats.

UAL F is J+ from a soft-product perspective, BA is J+ from an actual hard-product perspective.

I'm 6'2" and let's just say I prefer one over the other. Nothing nice about not being able to lie flat in F class...:td:

And honestly, the United First lounges in Narita, HKG, and Heathrow are brilliant. SFO isn't bad either. BA's F soft-service is great, and I enjoy it, but boy oh boy...that seat is like slinging into a tight C-Class Mercedes where everyone else is at S-Class levels of space

But, but, but... BA has the CCR at LHR. :D


https://photos.smugmug.com/Airlines/...L/IMG_1269.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Airlines/...MG_1266-X4.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Airlines/...MG_1265-X4.jpg

And then there's the loo with a broken lock.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Airlines/...MG_7404-X4.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Airlines/...MG_7405-X4.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Airlines/...MG_7406-X4.jpg

SFO777 - always appreciate what must be the best photos on FlyertTalk.:D

So Cathay confirms that they will continue to offer first class seats on the upcoming Boeing 777-9X.

https://www.ausbt.com.au/cathay-conf...-boeing-777-9x

CX should really consider to introduce "Pure-Biz" flights with A350-1000 and B777-9, installing ONLY F Seats (in form of SQ Suites / EK A380 First) and J seats (The type that A350-900 has) and a new Product (installed in 2-2-2 config, with Fully Flat bed (like hard product on LAN B787-9 / QF A380) and Lounge access rights like CX Silver) on the following routes, replacing 77G (the spare 77G to be converted to 77H):
HKG-SYD (use the CX111 slot)
HKG-LHR (use the CX237 slot)
HKG-JFK (use the CX840 slot)
HKG-YVR
HKG-ZRH (introduce a 2nd daily)
HKG-LAX (resume the 4th daily, but depart at same time that CX880 does)
HKG-SFO

Out of HKG, just F/J? LOL. They might as well take wheelbarrows full of HKD, douse them in Jet-A, and set them on fire. Saves them the trouble of fleet reconfig and will lose money just as effectively.

The poster is notorious for asking and talking nonsense on here.

Why? Because every other airline that tried the all-Biz flights have failed miserably? When it fails every time try and try again?

SQ failed, QR failed, HX failed

The only possible all premium flight is BA1/2/3/4, with only 40 seats per day between the two biggest cities In the world, from an exclusive airport for long haul. 350/777 will have at least 100 seats onboard, I also don't see why anyone would choose an all business flight over a regular flight, with probably only one flight per day.

i think NH sort of suceeded doing NRT BOM using 737 as "business jets" sort of what BA does LCY-JFK... but that was more to do with pioneering the route in earlier days to what has become a route thats upgraded to larger bird.

CXs model has been and still is to sell Y/PEY to pay for operating costs and "hope" to sell J at their inflated prices as profit. .and thats why they suffered/suffering as aviation market dynamic changes... introducing all first class flight would never happen let alone all business config with their current fleet.

where first class industry norm is shifting to is to cater for the niche, having 3-4 rows at front of cabin... but even so i get a feeling relative yield of first class adjusted for aircraft real estate and considering ground infrastructure investment, am not sure if first class is a viable product.

The number of F class seats on CX is unquestionably going to reduce - through some planes no longer having F at all and others, which currently have F, carrying a reduced number of F seats. It's just the market dynamics - fewer companies willing to pay for F, a high-quality J service against which it competes and very high prices if they can get full fare for the F seat. I'm not that price conscious but I could never justify paying cash for F compared to J where I get a flat bed (albeit slightly smaller), the same IFE, the same average quality food, the same friendly service from the cabin crew and the same safe arrival.

As noted, many airlines have tried business class only and failed with it - whether SQ with its J/PE-only flights to the US (flying tankers that had to carry so much fuel to get there that they had to reduce the weight of passengers and cargo) or Silverjet, La Compagnie, Maxjet, Eos and others across the Atlantic. The BA LCY-JFK business class service was once a premium service (like the airline itself...in the past), it's now down to one rotation a day. Its main advantage I found when I used it was that, despite the longer flying time because of the refuelling stop at Shannon, I knew that there'd be no delay on arrival with horrendous immigration queues at JFK. Now I have GE I wouldn't use it because there aren't any delays for me.

Sydney doesn't even warrant F on any CX flight these days because there's a lack of willingness to pay in that market. Not even all the London flights have F, same with NY, not all those flights have F, same with SFO, one flight a day with F, only one of the daily YVRs - which goes on to NY - has F (because Canada generally is like Australia, a lack of willingness to pay for F - if enough passengers were willing to pay, there'd certainly be F on planes going there). I think we can conclude that the paying demand for F and J is pretty much matched - if not exceeded - by the number of F and J seats on each of these routes on the vast majority of days.

Tried and failed numerous times. I'm not one to oppose innovation but Norwegian's discount economy model is more likely to succeed than an aircraft with just F and J. I don't intend to fly Norwegian but I have to accept that's what the market is telling us that it wants more of rather than yet another F and J only option. As eponymous_coward says: easier just to set fire to the cash.

Shhhhh, you're spoiling the new revised CX strategy v.6, aka "Time to Burn All The Things And Start Again".

I've done a J only flight once, a domestic flight from CAN-PEK with HU. Tickets were cheaper than regular J though, so I guess the airliner tried hard to fill the whole flight.

i would say the flight experience is better than a regular flight as obviously the cabin will be more empty.... but for the airlines... I guess it's not really working out.

At the end of the day, what is really the selling point for all Premium class flight?

Marketing value? But like the A380 as an airline's flagship, that is costly.

I think derek2010 under-appreciates the business model at a capacity-restricted airport like HKG - you hog frequencies with long, thin aircraft, hawk the expensive tix to time-sensitive (business) travellers at full cost and then use miles (restricted currency) to fill up the rest.

P.S. environment, passenger comfort be damned in the name of bolstering thin frequency.

Mate, you're missing one requirement: CX to sell you these above fares on FanFare every week for HKD $1990!! Door to door limousine included if you have GR or above!