Cathay welcomes its first A350-1000

2026
June 19, 2018
Cathay A350-1000 delivery
Photo: Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific has taken delivery of the first of 20 Airbus A350-1000s as it prepares the biggest member of the high-tech aircraft family to operate its longest route.

That will be Hong Kong-Washington, DC when it starts from September 15 but before it attempts the 8153-mile (13,120km)  route to the US capital, the new aircraft type  wlll be checked out on shorter regional routes starting with Tapei from July 1.

In the medium term, the A350-1000 will also serve Madrid, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Manchester and Zurich from the northern winter. The airline has looked at using the aircraft to replace an A330 on its Sydney services but this was not mentioned as one of the initial routes.

Cathay already has plenty of experience with A350s as an operator of the smaller A350-900 and, despite some now-solved teething problems with quality control on business class seats, officials say the aircraft is working well for both passengers and the airline.

cathay A350-1000 delivery
The A350 business class.

Like the its Boeing 787 competitors, the high-tech aircraft has a higher cabin pressure  that translates into a cruising altitude of 6000ft.

This helps fight fatigue and leaves passengers feeling better at the end of a flight.  The cabins are also 50 percent quieter in terms of perceived noise.

Compared to the A350-900, the A350-1000 will add 54 passengers across its business, premium economy and economy class cabins to bring the total seat count to 334. That will translate to 46 in business, 32 in premium economy and 256 in economy.

Read: Cathay passengers see new menus, seats in restructure.

The new plane will use the same business class and premium economy seats as the A350-900 and will come with a new economy seat with a bigger high definition inflight entertainment screen and LED mood lighting.

It also features the wi-fi connectivity Cathay is progressively installing across its fleet.

Pluses for the airline stem from  a 25 percent gain in fuel efficiency, increased mainteance intervals  and the aircraft’s generous freight capacity, something officials note is important to an airline that is one of the world’s biggest cargo airlines.

The Hong Kong carrier has already used the -900 to open up routes previously not available to it and Washington adds to that list.

“The -1000 is very similar to the -900 in terms of its operational excellence,’’ Cathay chief customer and commercial officer Paul Loo said. “ It has an incredible range, is remarkably fuel efficient and quiet, provides customers with an unsurpassed cabin environment and has extremely attractive operating economics.”

A feature of the journey back from the Airbus delivery centre in Toulouse to Hong Kong is the use of a biofuel blend, something the airline  has done for its  22 A350-900s and intends to do for its remaining -1000s.

The Hong Kong carrier is an equity investor in US-based Fulcrum BioEnergy, which focuses on turning municipal waste into sustainable aviation fuel and plans to produce more than 10 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel by 2020.