Cathay Pacific Airways

The old Cathay Pacific seats was a lot more comfortable than the new seat which does not recline. I always like Cathay Pacific but with the new seat I would recommend to fly another carrier even if it's not a direct flight.

The most useless seats - these seats define the very bottom of what I have ever experienced. Stay away if you can. Cabin staff and food were great and the only reminder of a 5 star airline.

I had exit row aisles on my journey because I am tall but they were very problematic as it was next to toilet and there was not enough room for people waiting to stand so they stood on my feet all night. This miserable airline had squeezed so many seats into the plane that there was no space even around the exit area - if there was an emergency it would be chaos! The next problem was the fact that Cathay economy seats do not recline so I had the trip from hell being over 6 foot as my head kept falling forward despite a support pillow. On this airline they think that by having the bottom of the seat slide forward you have comfort - wrong. I had no sleep in 24 hours.

There was no recline. Seat pad moved forward slightly which brought my knees up against the seat in front Because of design of seat there was no head support and pillow supplied didn't fill the gap between back of my head and seat. The airbag attached to the seatbelt caused problems when the passenger in the adjoining seat moved they pushed down on the armrest which forced the airbag down into my thigh. The armrests were about 5cms too low and as a result didn't offer any support.

London to Sydney via Hong Kong. The journey entailed four flights in two different plane types. The return flight was direct with a 2 hour changeover in Hong Kong. I can only agree with the majority of passengers on this site who have already reviewed the new seats. They are actually appalling - the worst I have ever experienced. They do not recline and for myself and my husband that made sleep impossible. Whenever we tried to fall asleep our heads would loll forward the breathing became restricted and we immediately woke up. The slide forward motion of the horizontal seat only succeeded in creating a non-supported gap behind the lower back which was very uncomfortable.

Cathay Pacific's new Economy class seat was average even though it was quite well designed. I had an aisle seat and found no trouble at all. The negative about the seat was that you couldn't recline. The food was great like the service and fares.

It is clear that the people at CX responsible for selecting these seats have never flown long haul in them. We flew Toronto-Hong Kong and Hong Kong-Sydney return. The trip was a miserable experience. The seats are narrow no legroom to speak of no real recline and the "air bag" built into the seat belt further reduces comfort. My advice is fly with a different airline.

I'd heard rave reviews about Cathay Pacific but was aware of the new seating they'd installed in Economy Class so I knew what to expect. I was travelling with them as part of a package to the Hong Kong Sevens so didn't have any other alternative. The seats confirmed my worst fears. They are just awful. I'm 6ft 5 and if you choose your seat carefully on line before getting to the airport then you can at least get some leg-room if you're lucky. The real issue is comfort. There simply isn't any as the seat cusion is just too thin. The 'recline' or slide forward motion is awful as well. I had a really sore lumbar on arriving back in London as you can't get comfortable and sleep is nearly impossible in an upright position. Warning! Take a seat and neck cushion. It's hard to believe that this refurbishment was (I hope) researched and tested prior to introduction. If it had surely it wouldn't have progressed.

The shell seats offer a personal space in which nobody can intrude. There is good lumbar support if you keep your backside close to the cushion and don't slide. If you do slouch then a cushion is necessary to fill the gap. The shell is actually more reclined than regular airline seats.

I flew return from Vancouver to Delhi via Hong Kong in February. Although there were two different aircraft involved each with a different seat configuration the seats were the same - the worst I've ever experienced. Very little legroom but worst of all the seats didn't recline. All that could be done was to slide the seat bottom forward which only gave the illusion of leaning back a bit. This put my back into a painful slumped position and because the seat back was still upright my head and neck were pushed forward. Within half an hour I had excruciating back pain which I couldn't get rid of regardless of how I positioned myself. On such a long flight as Vancouver - Hong Kong such seats seem absurd since it's pretty much impossible to sleep. I was miserable the entire time and could only pray that the seats between Hong Kong and Delhi would be different. They weren't. When the agonising trip was finally over and I was finally in India I kept having the awful realisation that I was going to have to sit in the same torturous seats all the way home again.