Shocking state of cabin appearance

I traveled this week on BKK-HKG on a longhaul A330 configuration. It was my first trip on CX in several years. As an LAX-based flyer I've been avoiding CX and mostly flying AA or JL. That's a trend that will continue based on my flight this week.

First things: service was really nice and super friendly. That was definitely the high point of the flight. Meal service was quite bad. The prawn main course was...truly terrible. 6 tiny dry, spongy and overcooked prawns in what appeared to be black bean water, with a bowl of partially dehydrated rice. I understand it's not fair to judge an airline based on its regional food offerings, but my SIN-BKK flight earlier on SQ definitely outpaced CX.

What really surprised me was the shabby state of the A330 cabin. Dirty, worn surfaces everywhere. And when I sat down I noticed the fabric shell on my seat was falling off (see photo). The cushion on the stool was also very worn.

It's unfortunate to see how this airline continues to decline relative to its competition. I would not want to spend 8-10 hours or more with this product and most certainly will continue to prefer JL or AA on my APAC trips.

I mentioned it to her. She tried to secure it but it kept falling. Mine was not the only seat with fabric coming off, so they'll have a bit of effort and lots of double-stick tape to get the cabin back in shape.

The exact meal! Yes.

It is not representative of the norm however yes, some of the 330 interiors are really starting to show their age. While CX hasn't publicly announced its future plans for the short-haul/regional fleet the assumption is that the older 330s will continue to be retired, transferred or handed back lessors (around 30 remain in the fleet net of frames understood to be heading to KA in the near future). It is also assumed that future dedicated CX regional aircraft will receive the same new business class seat as will be announced early next year for KA's new fleet of A321s with long haul birds presumably eventually being retrofitted with new seat CX will introduce with the 777x whenever it arrives.

I fly long-haul J regularly... often on the 77Ws outbound, and the 350s inbound... agree, the A350s are in better shape (obviously, since they're so much newer).
The 77Ws are really showing their age - 3 out of 5 times, I encounter the same issue Op had... torn fabric coming off at the corners, very worn/aged surfaces, and so on.

Can't wait for the big CX refresh. In the meantime, I'll usually call the ISM over, point out the issues nicely, nod as s/he apologizes profusely and promises to make a note to their ground maintenance crews upon arrival.

On some occasions, someone in the call center will ring me, and apologize once more on the phone, followed by a credit of a few 1000s AMs, which is always appreciated.

Welcome to the club! We have a new member lamenting the decline of CX. As for sizing up the A350 cabin interior, it's probably worth reviewing the thread that discusses the A350 interiors. Things may have improved since the initial delivery of the early A350s, but the initial fit and finish of those planes were not up to standard (tape on bathroom mirrors, etc.; the A350-1000s in PE still have the problem of the handset controller getting stuck in the cradle due to the cord kinking up the release mechanism).

As for catering, I do like the smoothies on AA on the LAX-HKG route but the mains were some of the worst J meals I've had. I've had meals in Y that were better tasting.