Originally Posted by gavinchan180 (Post 36759250)

Cathay Pacific Aria Suite long-haul debut is quietly delayed until at least March/April 2025 due to slow rollout of aircrafts, you have to get at least 3x 77Js to debut long-haul Aria flights, 2nd Aria plane B-KQH won't leave the hangar at XMN until at least January 2025, SIN will deploy 77Js at least on February and LHR will deploy 77Js at least on March, B-KPE once said ''Seating reconfiguration at XMN'' but the plane left XMN without any seating reconfiguration, and then flew to BKK with the existing 77A cabins.

Originally Posted by CX HK (Post 36759269)

What's causing the slow roll out? I thought there were no supply chain issues affecting Aria Suite, unless now management has second thoughts..?

Originally Posted by QRC3288 (Post 36759114)

The term "flagship" has to be one of the most bizarre, meaningless, overused words in the mileage community!

Airlines fly the planes that make financial sense to each destination within the context of the broader network, fleet considerations, cargo, crew, distance, fleet mix, seasonality, and all sorts of other factors. The idea that certain planes are perhaps flown for prestige reasons (which I'm aware is not always what people mean by "flagship", this vague term that it is, but it often is related I think), is far more grand myth than reality. The airline industry is brutally tough as it stands without flying the wrong plane to the wrong market.



My bold. That's a pretty good reason right there!

I will add one other point: Virgin Atlantic no longer serves HKG, BA reduced capacity already (a388 + 77W/2 to either b772 +b789 or b788 + b789), and BA has further reduced capacity in the schedule to just one daily frequency.

Now compare to SFO and LAX, for example. United flies both routes 2x daily (SFO gets double daily 77W, LAX B789), and Cathay is soon returning to 3x daily for both markets. So each of LAX and SFO will be going from 3-4x daily to 5x daily. (And LAX and SFO aren't too far apart, travelers commonly fly into one and out of the other, meaning 10x dailies to HKG alone to the California West Coast). Meanwhile, LHR is going from 7x daily to 6x daily as BA cuts their second daily. To reiterate, capacity is actually decreasing in the LHR market! If I were a bean counter at CX that's be a route I'd take a hard look at for further capturing yield and maybe adding capacity.

It's just not crazy to think CX would be wise, if the numbers hold up, to press on with premium services to LHR and perhaps even add premium capacity considering the decline of the British airlines servicing HKG lately. And dare I say CX could do it with, drumroll, swapping some flights to 77J (the Aria product!). They could add capacity without worrying about LHR slots or returning to LGW, which is a more complex consideration than LHR given the lower yields.

As another point, not the biggest but one nonetheless, EK did a reasonable business sending passengers to London and from HKG as a connecting carrier and they're still not back to pre-Covid capacity in HKG. LH is still behind pre covid, and AF downsized their plane to a smaller a350 which regrettably doesn't carry F class. CX is in a great position flying to LHR and I can't fault them for trying to max it out here.

Originally Posted by majorpuppy (Post 36759443)

for example in HKG-LAX cathay had 89% load factor and UA was in the dangerous 50s in October. DFW and MUC, two places used to be served by foriegn carriers is now going to served by cathay. so the downsizing from foriegn carriers, while a pity, makes sense.

Originally Posted by cmiller11101 (Post 36761062)

Where do you get these numbers from in re: load factor? (Not disputing, just wondering.)

-Chris

Originally Posted by tfung (Post 36762859)

At the CX Diamond drinks event, I talked to the head of product development about the Aria Suites and about some of the issues and problems with the seats, and they said they are tweaking and rectifying the issues as they are being rolled out. Can only hope that the delay is because they are updating some of the issues with the first plane...

Originally Posted by cathayfans (Post 36764786)

But for example in April HKG-LHR 250 and 255 if they use 77J, the aria suites seating plan will be different from people who already bought their flight tickets in April, so how will Cathay solve this problem?

Originally Posted by cxwaterboy (Post 36764847)

Whatever amount of Asia Miles you can get by complaining with a side dish of internal remarks.

There has never been an equipment guarantee. It’s the same when people get kicked off first class seats on a 77A sold as 3 class. Or say a 35G is swapped for 77K. The 350s are arguably nicer but this isn’t a dealbreaker.

I don’t see how the damn door warrants a ‘Q-Suite guarantee’ when it’s paper thin. Judging from the feedback from this forum and others offline, the new products has its supporters and haters. Some might prefer the old whilst others love the new. You can never please everyone.

Originally Posted by cathayfans (Post 36764863)

So do u mean they can just change the aircraft like in April suddenly from A359 to 77J and just upgrade people from PEY, because A359 has 38 Buisness, and 77J has 45?

Originally Posted by Andrew3 (Post 36776820)

Does anyone have any idea where is the highest possibility that the Aria Suite will fly to for February? Also, when is the approximate time that CX will release the route of Aria Suite for February? Thanks and Happy New Year!