Cathay Pacific A321neo Business Class: Lovely, With A Weird Seat

Hello from South Korea, as I start the return journey of my review trip. I just flew Cathay Pacific’s Airbus A321neo business class, on the 2hr50min morning flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to Seoul Incheon (ICN).

Cathay Pacific started flying the A321neo in 2021, and as time goes on, it’ll become an increasingly large part of the carrier’s fleet. I’ve gotta be honest, it feels kind of weird to board a narrow body jet on Cathay Pacific, because I’m so used to the airline only flying wide body jets pre-pandemic.

While I’m not sure I really understand Cathay Pacific’s regional business class seat, this flight was awesome for such a short daytime service, with a lovely soft product, including friendly service. In this post I want to share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report.

Cathay Pacific’s A321neo business class seats confuse me

Before we even talk about the inside of the aircraft, can I just mention how beautiful Cathay Pacific’s livery looks on the Airbus A321neo? What a stunner!

Anyway, Cathay Pacific’s A321neos have 12 business class seats, spread across three rows, in a 2-2 configuration. This plane is designed for regional routes, so there are no flat beds, but instead there are recliners.

Specifically, the seats have a hard shell concept, so if the person in front of you reclines, they don’t intrude on your space in any way. Cathay Pacific has long been into this hard shell concept, though this particular seat is new to the airline.

Cathay Pacific isn’t alone with having these kinds of seats, though I don’t really get them. On the one hand, on a daytime flight I quite like them compared to a traditional recliner seat, since no one reclines into your space. But that’s largely because I’m someone who almost never sleeps if I don’t have a flat bed.

On the other hand, the problem is that when you recline the seat into the cradle position, it feels a little bit like sitting in a dentist’s chair. The below picture shows the full recline. What I don’t get is, where are my feet supposed to go when I recline this far, since they hit the hard shell of the seat in front?

So I’d absolutely avoid this seat on an overnight flight, or on a flight where I need to rest. However, on a short daytime flight, I found it to be perfectly comfortable. The Bamford bedding also helped with just generally getting cozy.

I’m just puzzled why Cathay Pacific keeps doubling down on this seating concept on regional routes, rather than introducing the Collins Aerospace Diamond seat (like on the Korean Air A321neo, Starlux Airlines A321neo, etc.), which only takes up a little more space, due to efficiently using the space to the seat in front.

Cathay Pacific’s A321neo business class tech is great, in theory

So many airlines are improving their tech nowadays, and Cathay Pacific is no exception. The A3221neo has plenty of charging ports, and a crisp 15.6″ 4K television, with a huge selection of entertainment, includng movies, TV shows a map feature, and more. There’s even bluetooth audio.

Cathay Pacific’s A321neos also have Wi-Fi, which is free for business class passengers. However, the Wi-Fi wasn’t working on this flight, despite the crew trying to reset it. I’m not sure how common of an issue that is.

Cathay Pacific’s food & service are awesome

When you’re flying a narrow body on a short haul flight within Asia, you can’t help but think to yourself “why can’t we have nice things like this in the United States?”

The crew working this flight was excellent, with the cabin manager and a second flight attendant working business class, which made for a very good flight attendant to passenger ratio. There were of course menus, warm towels, pre-departure drinks, personal greetings, etc.

Breakfast was served on this flight, and that started with a fruit plate, some yogurt, and a selection from the pastry basket. I had a cappuccino to drink.

There was also a selection of cereal, and I had some granola. For the main course I selected the Korean galbi jim, which was braised beef with chestnut and radish, spinach, bean sprouts, and multigrain rice. Maybe the presentation wasn’t amazing, but it tasted great.

Bottom line

I finally had my first flight on one of Cathay Pacific’s narrow body aircraft, and it was a nice experience. While I don’t love the shell seats in business class, that’s not an issue on a daytime flight, though I would avoid this aircraft on a redeye. Beyond that, it was a very good flight, with friendly service, tasty food, and impressive amenities for such a short journey.

If you’ve flown Cathay Pacific’s A321neo business class, what was your experience like?