Cathay Pacific is officially retiring its long-standing regional business class recliners in favor of fully lie-flat seats. The airline recently shared new details about its upcoming regional product, dubbed the Aria Studio.
While Cathay introduced its long-haul “Aria Suite” on Boeing 777s with privacy doors, the regional “Aria Studio” scales that design down for shorter flights across Asia.
What to Expect From the Aria Studio
Unlike Cathay’s current regional Airbus A330 cabins which feature a 2-2-2 recliner setup, the Aria Studio moves to a modern 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout. This means every passenger gets direct aisle access and a fully flat bed, even on short-haul hops.
Key features built into the seat include:
- Lie-Flat Comfort: Replaces hard-shell recliners with a flat bed.
- No Privacy Door: Unlike long-haul suites, Cathay opted to keep the entrance open, fitting the shorter duration of regional flights.
- Modern Tech Touches: Equipped with wireless phone charging, dedicated laptop storage, Bluetooth audio pairing, and a 4K swiveling screen.
Fleet Rollout & Strategy
The retrofit program is scheduled to begin on select existing Airbus A330-300s. It will also come standard on newly ordered A330-900neos. Older A330 airframes scheduled for retirement in the coming years will keep their existing cabins until they leave the fleet.
This upgrade addresses a long-standing inconsistency in Cathay’s regional network. Up until now, regional passengers faced a “cabin lottery”, sometimes landing a long-haul aircraft with lie-flat seats, and other times ending up on older 2-2-2 recliners. Moving to a unified 1-2-1 configuration helps bring Cathay closer to regional competitors like Singapore Airlines and Starlux, which already offer lie-flat seats across their regional widebody fleets.
