Today Cathay Pacific announced that they are increasing capacity on the Sydney – Hong Kong route by 580 extra seats per week from December, up to 1,370 seats per week from February 2015, by deploying a larger 777-300ER on the route.
CX138 and CX139 will be operated by a 777-300ER from December on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with continuing A330 service on other days until a daily frequency kicks in from February. This is Cathay Pacific continuing their steady incremental approach that their versatile fleet of A330’s and 777 aircraft allows them to do – grow by adapting to market demand.
Yes, for the eagle-eyed of you, that is an A330 pictured above. You can check out my reviews of Business Class in Cathay Pacific’s 777-300ER to London from Hong Kong here, of their A330 Business Class service from Hong Kong, and in Premium Economy too if you’re interested – their A330 product and experience is fundamentally very comparable to travelling on their 777-300ER.
For points seat hunters it should hopefully mean increased availability in Business Class and Premium Economy, especially as Cathay consistently release a selection of last minute seats where there is spare capacity on a route. As a result, CX138 and CX139 will be flights to look out for additional award space on from next year onward.
Only disappointment? It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a four class 777, as the addition of First Class to the route wasn’t explicitly referenced in the press release and seat maps online show it operating as a 3 class 777 with Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class. If First Class were available, it would have been heralded in with some fanfare. Maybe they’ll save that for later in the year – here’s hoping!
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