Melbourne will become the first Australian city to receive Cathay Pacific’s newest aircraft, the A350-900, when the airline sends the plane to the destination early next year.
The airline announced this week it will utilise the Airbus on one of its three daily flights into Melbourne from 1 February 2017, giving Melburnians the chance to be the first in Australia to try out the carrier’s fuel-efficient aircraft.
One month later, on 1 March 2017, Cathay Pacific will also introduce the popular Boeing 777-300ER onto its second daily flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong.
Together, the two aircraft will increase capacity on the route by 15 percent to 12,194, while also offering passengers comfortable, brand new seating.
The Airbus A350 will be deployed on the daily CX104, which currently departs Melbourne at 14.20 and arrives into Hong Kong at 21.50 and the return flight CX105.
Onboard, the aircraft has Premium, Business and Economy seats all featuring new screens for inflight entertainment and Wi-Fi, as well as lower cabin pressure and greater humidity.
Meanwhile, the 777-300ER has 32 Premium Economy, 40 Business and 268 Economy seats and will be deployed on the daily CX178 flight which currently departs Melbourne at 23.30 and arrives into Hong Kong at 05.15 and the return flight CX163, which departs Hong Kong at 10.35 and arrives into Melbourne at 21.55.
Cathay Pacific’s General Manager Southwest Pacific, Nelson Chin, said he thinks people will love the A350s quieter and comfortable inflight experience as well as the larger windows, new seats and LED mood lighting.
Simon Gandy, Chief of Aviation, Melbourne Airport added that gateway is “delighted” by the announcement and looks forward to welcoming “thousands of new Cathay Pacific passengers”.
“Melbourne is the perfect destination for the new Airbus A350-900 and we are honoured to be the first Australian airport to receive the latest addition to the Cathay Pacific fleet.”