What's New With Cathay

Neha Gupta Kapoor talks about the new features added to Cathay Pacific’s luxurious bouquet of services.

- Neha Gupta Kapoor

ADDITION TO THE FAMILY

On Sunday, May 29, 2016 Cathay Pacific received the first of its A350 XWB aircraft in Hong Kong. By this year end, the airline will have 22 A350-900s, followed by 26 A350-1000s to be delivered between 2018 and 2020. These will be deployed on long haul routes.

Currently, the A350 flies from Hong Kong to Dusseldorf, London, Auckland, Fuzhou Changle, Paris and select regional cities. From March 26 it will serve the route to Tel Aviv, and to Barcelona between July and September.

The aim to include this aircraft model in its fleet is to give passengers a luxurious flight experience on Hong Kong’s flagship airline. LED mood lighting with different colours is fitted throughout Cathay Pacific’s new A350-900 with the intent of providing a “relaxed cabin ambience to reduce jet lag”. Further, supplying higher cabin pressure reduces passenger fatigue; and its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines makes it the quietest among XWB aircraft types.

In-flight entertainment (IFE) for all 280 seats uses the Panasonic ex3 platform with a personal high definition touch screen television. Its wide selection of movies, television shows, live news channels (BBC, CNN, and Euronews) and music are made available from just after boarding the aircraft to touch down at the port of arrival. Alternatively, passengers can stream content from Cathay Pacific’s preloaded databank onto their personal gadgets. The IFE has an e-reader too — a collection of international magazines, e-catalogue for on-board shopping, and street views of the globe on the 3D interactive map. Wi-Fi is available across all cabin classes, as are personal power outlets, USB ports, and a tablet holder. While internet rates start from US$9.95/₹677 per hour, access to cathaypacific.com and its partner websites is free.