[新聞] Cathay Pacific Revamps Business-Class on Competition

[Nemuro (太平洋岸，北海道)]

        http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-07/cathay-pacific-to-spend-hk-1-billion-on-business-class-revamp.html
        短網址： http://0rz.tw/xtwWX

        一點摘要：
        國泰商務艙改艙要花十億港元
        到 2013 二月將會有五十架長程飛機配備新商務艙，
        包括三十架 77W 與二十架 A333
        改艙目的是為了與阿酋、新航的 A380 競爭；
        也為了對抗美國業者的中國航線


        Cathay Pacific Revamps Business-Class on Competition

        By Wing-Gar Cheng - Dec 7, 2010 8:20 PM GMT+0800

        Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong’s biggest carrier,
        will spend more than HK$1 billion ($129 million) introducing
        new business-class seats to fend off competition for
        lucrative premium travelers.

        The seats, which will debut on Sydney flights in March,
        will be fitted in 50 long-haul planes by February, 2013,
        the carrier said in a statement today. They will be longer
        and wider than the carrier’s current units, it said.

        Incoming Chief Executive Officer John Slosar will oversee
        the revamp as Emirates Airline and Singapore Airlines Ltd.
        woo Hong Kong travelers with Airbus SAS A380s,
        and U.S. carriers add China flights on surging economic growth.
        British Airways Plc and Deutsche Lufthansa AG have also unveiled
        new first-class cabins this year as travel rebounds from
        the global recession.

        “The premium carriers in this region have to be very mindful of
        what’s going on in the Middle East,” said Derek Sadubin,
        chief operating officer at consultants Centre for Asia- Pacific
        Aviation. “And, there’s obviously some very strong transpacific
        rivals.”

        Cathay will install the new seats in 30 Boeing Co. 777- 300ERs
        and 20 Airbus SAS A330-300, which will fly to markets
        including Europe, North America, Australia and India.
        It will also roll out new cabin-crew uniforms as part of
        the revamp.

        ‘Challenging Market’

        “Business-class is an important and challenging market for us,”
        Slosar told reporters in the city. He declined to comment on
        whether the airline planned to overhaul coach class or add
        premium-economy seating.

        The new lie-flat business-class seats have a 75-inch (1.9 meter)
        usable bed length, 4 inches more than the current units,
        according to the statement. Slosar slept “very well” on
        mock- ups of the new leather-covered seats, he said.

        Cathay is overhauling its business-class offering as
        Singapore Air and Emirates fly their flagship A380s to Hong Kong.
        In September, the carrier opened The Cabin, its fourth
        airport lounge in Hong Kong, which offers Apple Inc. iPads and
        a health bar. It is also working on renovating its main lounge,
        The Wing.

        Emirates, which is building up a fleet of 90 A380s, offers
        superjumbo business-class passengers a seat that reclines into
        a 79-inch long bed, up to 1,200 channels of inflight entertainment
        and access to an onboard lounge. Singapore Air also touts
        lie- flat seats and access to 120 movies that can be viewed on
        personal 15.4-inch liquid crystal display screens.

        Korean Air, United

        Korean Air Lines Co., which competes with Cathay on
        China- U.S. routes, will also begin flying A380s next year
        as it seeks to boost premium-class sales to 50 percent of
        overall revenue. United Continental Holdings Inc. and
        Delta Air Lines Inc. are adding China services, lured by
        growth in the world’s most populous nation that’s three times
        the pace in the U.S.

        Cathay, which generates about half of its sales in China and
        Hong Kong, rose 3.2 percent to close at HK$24.10 in Hong Kong
        today, before the announcement. The stock has risen 66 percent
        this year, the best performance on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

        Cathay will begin flying to Chicago and Abu Dhabi next year,
        as well as boosting services to New York and Toronto,
        as the economic pickup spurs business and leisure travel.
        Overall, it plans to increase capacity 11 percent.
        It will also receive a record 15 new planes, including
        six freighters.

        Globally, first and business-class passenger traffic rose
        9.2 percent in the first nine months of the year,
        according to the International Air Transport Association.
        Overall passenger traffic jumped 8.5 percent through October,
        with a 10 percent increase in the Asia-Pacific region,
        the trade group said.

        Slosar will take over as Cathay CEO in April from Tony Tyler,
        who is leaving to become IATA’s director general.

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→ whichway:~_~747沒有在改裝計畫內，CX飛歐洲幾乎都是74A....
推 Hazel0906:Jumbo已經逐漸要淘汱，遇壞不修
推 nyrnu:只有某家把744當寶,拒絕77W, 還想要改艙744延壽一番
→ Nemuro:國泰還有好些 77W 沒交機，應該是會逐步用 77W 換掉 74A 吧
→ Nemuro:然後新交機的 77W 應該都會配備新商務艙這樣
推 danic:當744消失的時候 一定會很感傷..這裡的老人應該一堆了
推 irwin8417:看了新的椅子, 好沒質感