Cathay Pacific brings new Aria Suite Business Class to Singapore

Back in March 2024, Cathay Pacific revealed a brand new ‘Aria Suite’ Business Class product, enhancing its existing long-haul Safran Cirrus seats with a more advanced and private closed-door suite design by Collins Aerospace, which then made their debut in mid-October last year.

The new seats are now installed on three of Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and the Oneworld carrier has now begun deploying them on the Hong Kong – Singapore route.

After a few appearances in late January, the new configuration will feature more consistently throughout most of February 2025.

The schedule

Cathay Pacific currently operates up to nine daily flights between Singapore and Hong Kong, and since 24th January 2025 some of those services have featured the Aria Suite in Business Class.

Here’s a list of the routes currently programmed to receive Boeing 777-300ERs with the new seats for the rest of February 2025:

From March 2025 onwards, Cathay Pacific is not currently programming any Aria Suite Business Class aircraft on its Singapore route, but the carrier is notorious for loading its actual planned aircraft type operation much later than most others, so keep an eye out for changes.

For example, Cathay is loading its Airbus A330 on all nine daily departures from Singapore during the northern summer 2025 season from late March to late October this year – a highly unlikely situation that will likely be amended in the coming weeks.

Redeem for 22,000 Avios points

The best way to redeem Business Class seats between Singapore and Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific is using Qatar Airways Avios points, which you can also transfer into 1:1 from the British Airways and Finnair Plus programmes.

This allows you to lock in awards for just 22,000 Avios points one-way, with only around S$65 in taxes and fees to pay, compared to 28,000 Asia Miles + S$100 in taxes.

Cathay Pacific
Singapore – Hong Kong award rates

FFP	Travel Class
	Economy	Premium	Business
	11,000 + S$65	16,500 + S$65	22,000 + S$65
	10,000 + S$101	20,000 + S$101	28,000 + S$101
	14,300 + S$101	23,400 + S$101	32,500 + S$101
	20,000 + S$101	34,500 + S$101	43,800 + S$101
	25,000 + S$82	n/a*	n/a*
	26,000 + S$101	37,000 + S$101	55,000 + S$101

* Cathay Pacific is currently not offering Premium Economy or Business Class awards to Alaska Mileage Plan members

Why Singapore?

Singapore is an important route for Cathay Pacific, so we’re not surprised to see the airline deploy some Aria Suite aircraft here relatively early in the product’s existence, even with only three aircraft refitted.

That’s especially true following Singapore Airlines’ highly procrastinated launch of its new long-haul Business Class products, originally held back for the introduction of its Boeing 777-9s in 2021 (yes, you read that right!), but now happening on Airbus A350 Long Haul aircraft in early 2026.

This move allows Cathay to showcase its latest seats to the local market well ahead of “the competition”.

Cathay Pacific also reopened its excellent lounge in Terminal 4 in 2023, offering passengers a great pre-departure experience compared to many other airlines at Changi.

How to identify Aria Suite aircraft

Since most Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 aircraft have a 1-2-1 layout in Business Class, the way to determine whether your flight will have the Aria Suite is to check the total number of seats in the cabin – which is 45.

Also, seat 18A is missing. This is not the case on any other Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 aircraft.

Cathay Pacific has currently refitted three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with the new Aria Suite product, plus refreshed Premium Economy and Economy Class seating:

These were all formerly 294-seat four-class aircraft, including a First Class cabin, but in this Aria Suites refit they have received a significant capacity boost to 361 seats in a three-class layout, as shown below.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER Refitted Seat Totals
Cabin	Old Configuration (77A)	Aria Suite Configuration (77J)	Change
First Class	6	—	100%
Business Class	53	45	15%
Premium Economy	34	48	41%
Economy Class	201	268	33%
Total	294	361	23%

Cathay sure is going big on Premium Economy with this refit, though Business Class retains a respectable 45-seat capacity., as noted above.

Here’s the seat map provided by Cathay Pacific for this new Aria Suite variant, which the carrier calls ’77J’.

As you can see the Business Class cabin is split across two sections, the forward one with 25 seats (rows 11-18) and the rear one behind the second set of main aircraft doors with 20 seats (rows 19-23).

The forward section may be a better choice, further from the engines and with no bassinet positions, for a quieter ride, though do take note of the toilets on the left side of the cabin, which should make a seat on the right hand aisle (G or K) a good bet for less foot traffic.

There are three toilets for Business Class, two for Premium Economy and six for Economy Class, giving a seat-to-toilet ratio of:

• 15:1 in Business
• 24:1 in Premium Economy
• 45:1 in Economy

Interestingly, two toilets do appear to be reserved for exclusive use of Premium Economy Class passengers, which is a rarity as they often have to share with Economy Class on many airlines.

Here’s aeroLOPA’s seat plan for this new Aria Suite Boeing 777, which should give you a good idea of window placement at each row.

For reference, you can see the four-class ’77A’ seating configuration the initial Aria Suite aircraft used to have at the Cathay Pacific site here and the aeroLOPA site here.

In future refits, Cathay will also be converting its three-class ’77P’ aircraft across to the Aria Suite configuration.

About the Aria Suite Business Class

Cathay Pacific has maintained its reverse-herringbone layout in Business Class with the Aria Suite, so window seats are angled towards the windows while aisle seats are angled away from the aisle, towards one another.

As with the current long-haul Business Class product, direct aisle access is retained for all passengers with a 1-2-1 configuration in this cabin.

The big difference though is the now-obligatory sliding privacy door, standard fit almost industry-wide in new Business Class cabin designs.

The door itself doesn’t look that high, and there’s a gap between the base of the door and the cabin floor, so this is far from a fully enclosed suite, or the privacy levels of Qatar’s high-walled Qsuite.

Nonetheless, doors are now a passenger expectation in new Business Class seats, and we’re fully expecting Singapore Airlines to follow suit on its brand new Boeing 777-9s a couple of years from now.

Each seat also boasts a 24-inch widescreen 4K in-flight entertainment screen, a huge upgrade on the 16-inch ones currently fitted to Cathay’s 777-300ERs, and even the 18-inch HD versions on board their latest A350s in Business Class.

It really can’t be overstated how big these screens are for Business Class – even the Qatar Airways Qsuite has only 21.5-inch screens, while the upcoming brand new Qantas A350s will offer 18″ screens.

Here Cathay is matching the latest JAL A350-1000 Business Class IFE screen offering.

These will be fixed monitors, unlike the foldable ones in the current Cathay Business Class fit, and so should allow for gate-to-gate viewing with no need to retract the screens for takeoff and landing.

Cathay Pacific is also promising the ability to “sync up your inflight entertainment with your travel companion” in this seat, a nifty idea for couples in the middle seat pairs watching the same movie or TV show, for example.

Bluetooth audio streaming is also enabled, and that also extends to the refitted Premium Economy and Economy Class cabins.

Storage remains familiar, with the head-height cupboard at the window side or between the middle seat pairs, including an integrated vanity mirror inside the compartment door.

The compartment is lined with a pastel teal green hue, a rare nod towards Cathay’s colour palette in what’s otherwise a mostly beige and cream finish with light wood and brass-coloured finishes, not unlike the upcoming Qantas A350 premium cabins.

Another storage compartment at the seat side is within easy reach, with a sliding side panel revealing a shallow stowage.

This looks the ideal spot for your smartphone, travel documents, and other smaller bits and pieces.

Wireless charging, another apparent must in the latest Business Class cabins, hasn’t been forgotten here – with an integrated power pad directly within reach at the side console.

If you prefer charging the old-fashioned way, at the front end of the side console there’s an AC power outlet along with USB-A and USB-C sockets.

That’s also where you’ll find the seat adjustment, plus some lighting controls, do not disturb button and the cabin call function.

A big benefit for middle seat passengers who don’t know their neighbour is the inclusion of a retractable full-sized privacy divider, currently missing from Cathay’s Cirrus Business Class product.

Obviously when flying as a couple or with a colleague the divider can be retracted, but it should mean no more fear of which seat remains available on board especially for last minute bookings or changes, with the obvious exception that there’s no window view in these middle pairs.

The tray table extends from beneath the IFE screen in this seat, and can be extended in a half-leaf or full position depending on what you’re using it for.

There’s also an integrated device holder at the far end of the table when it’s in the fully extended position, allowing you to prop up a tablet if you’re watching or reading your own content while working or dining.

Cathay Pacific is making a big deal of the lighting options in the Aria Suite, with “personalised suite lighting” that includes a lamp above the side console.

Presumably this will be adjustable to suit what you’re doing at the time.

Of course the seat reclines into a fully-flat bed as you would expect, with a retracting armrest to match bed-level at the aisle side, in a similar setup seem on the airline’s current A350 Business Class seat.

The new cabin fit will also include redesigned lavatories with wood panelling and Bamford amenities.

You can see more of the Aria Suite in this video Cathay Pacific released back in March.

We look forward to jumping on board the Aria Suite later this month, to see how it lives up to the hype, but in the meantime Head For Points has a nice review of the seat’s initial long-haul launch on the London – Hong Kong route.

Cathay Pacific has introduced its new Aria Suite Business Class seats on select flights between Singapore and Hong Kong, offering passengers a more private and modern experience with closed-door suites.

Currently available on three refitted Boeing 777-300ERs, the Aria Suite will operate on many dates throughout February 2025.

While future scheduling remains uncertain, Cathay is known for last-minute updates, so more deployments of this new product will hopefully follow.

You can redeem seats for as little as 22,000 Avios + S$65 on these flights, making this a great option for a brand new cabin product.

Ultimately the new seats will adorn all of the carrier’s 30 remaining Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, hopefully by around 2027, by which time it will also be appearing on factory-fresh Boeing 777-9 aircraft, which will also sport a brand new First Class cabin too.

(Cover Photo: Cathay Pacific)