This isn’t a definitive guide of the best and worst seats on Cathay Pacific’s A330s, but rather a small thing I seemed to notice with some of their newer A330s in general.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Jakarta Airport
Cathay Pacific’s new international A330s feature pretty standard seats in a 2-4-2 configuration, and will soon be the only planes in Cathay’s longhaul fleet to feature my favourite economy class seat.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Economy Class
I’d choose seats as you’d prefer – while I’d definitely go for the pair seats by the side, there isn’t any seats that I believe “stand out” as the best. Personally I’d go for the back of the plane because of the 2-3-2 configuration as the fuselage curves in, though there’s something notable about the right side that I’ve figured out as of late.
I sat in row 72 on my last flight in Cathay Pacific economy, and it felt extra spacious as it was near the first row with one less seat in the middle block, which meant there was quite a bit of open space around my seat. I wouldn’t say that it contributes much to the experience, though (but I’d certainly avoid seat 70G as people tend to bump into it). But that isn’t much of the point of this post – I’ll have a more definitive guide to that if you guys wish.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Economy Class View from Seat 72H
That said, I’d actively recommend the H and K window seats in rows 72-74 on Cathay Pacific’s international A330s.
What makes these seats so great?
The seats from row 72 backward on the right side of Cathay’s A330s are normally reserved for crew rest, so there’s a curtain encapsulating these six seats. I guess it would be especially good for a group of six if the crew let you use it, though I doubt they can be used – the curtain isn’t protrusive by any means, though I don’t think the curtain is the selling point.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Economy Class Curtain
However, the overhead panels are also slightly different. Here’s the overhead panel that Charlotte and I had on our flight back from Jakarta, sitting in seats 72H and 72K:
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Economy Class Crew Rest Overhead Panel
Meanwhile, here’s the overhead panel in the row ahead of us:
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Economy Class Overhead Panel
You’ve guessed it. In rows 72-74 H and K seats on Cathay Pacific’s international A330s, air nozzles are featured, while they aren’t featured in any other seat.
Bottom Line
This isn’t groundbreaking by any means, though I still thought it would be nice to point out, as you don’t know if a cabin would be kept especially warm or cold throughout a flight. It’s nice to have control of your seat temperature at all times, especially when flying from hot countries. I guess if you were travelling in a group of six, you might want to reserve those seats and ask the crew if the curtain can be used while you sleep.
It’s worth noting that if you were flying to Australia, these seats would most likely be blocked, though I’m not sure how exactly those seats work on longhaul flights.
Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 Economy Class Back Cabin