Cathay's growing A350 network heads Downunder

Cathay Pacific will add Melbourne to its growing Airbus A350 network when it brings its newest aircraft type Downunder from February 1.

The use of the A350-900, outfitted with enhanced cabin product as well as wireless internet access, is part of a push by Cathay to increase capacity to Australia’s second biggest city by 15.7 per cent.

The airline has been flying the new aircraft in South-East Asia and recently began services to London’s Gatwick Airport and Dusseldorf, in Germany. Other destinations already announced include Auckland, Vancouver, Paris and Rome.

 The new plane will operate one of Cathay’s three daily flights to Melbourne and will be joined on March 1 by the airline’s popular Boeing 777-300ER on a second daily flight. The bigger B777, which will operate as the daily CX178 flight, boosts the availability of premium seating with 40 seats in business and 32 in premium economy.

The two aircraft replace smaller Airbus A330s and bring the number of weekly seats into and out of Melbourne to 12,914.

The A350 will be deployed on the daily CX104 flight, which currently departs Melbourne at 1420 and arrives into Hong Kong at 2150, as well as return  CX105 flight. 

New features on the aircraft include new premium economy seats, high resolution touch video screens, better economy seats and well-designed enhancements to business class.

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Like its composite competitor, the Boeing 787, the A350 has higher cabin pressure and greater humidity to make passengers feel fresher after long flights.

Cathay Pacific general manager Southwest Pacific Nelson Chin said Cathay had grown its Melbourne operation to 21 flights a week over the 40 years it had been operating to the city.

 “It is really exciting to be introducing the Airbus A350 into Melbourne,’’ Chin said in a statement. “I know people are going to love the quieter, more comfortable inflight experience with larger windows, new seats and a spacious aesthetically-pleasing cabin with LED mood lighting. The introduction of the Boeing 777-300ER onto CX178, which departs daily at 2330, not only adds more business, premium economy and economy class seats, but it also provides better payload which will help facilitate cargo uplift.’’

Cathay currently operates 74 passenger flights a week between Hong Kong and Australia, with over 23 years of continuous services to all six major Australian cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide, and Perth.