In Photos: Cathay Pacific Brings Its 80th Anniversary and Aria Suite to Hudson Yards

NEW YORK — Cathay Pacific (CX) brought its 80th anniversary celebration outdoors on October 8, with a jovial gathering at Hudson Yards next to the Vessel. It was not an indoors, stuffy, very corporate type of event, marking eight decades of the Hong Kong airline.

The experience opened at a departures-board installation, where we checked in, and a small pavilion with a model aircraft. Jason Li, Cathay Pacific’s vice president of sales and marketing for the Americas, led us first to the premium economy demonstration.

The displays, visible from the outset on either side of the main check-in entrance, featured mock-ups of the new premium economy seat and Aria Suite business class—"exactly what you get in flight," as he put it. After the premium economy section, we walked out into an open lounge space serving a spread of Asian dishes and “Cloud Nine” cocktails, made with vodka and Cointreau.

The space also showcased the Cathay shop experience exclusive travel essentials any AvGeek would love to get their hands on.

The lounge area also had a personalization table for passport holders and suitcase tags, where visitors could have their names etched onto these travel accessories.

We then experienced the main Aria Suite showcase, which we'll discuss below, and later played the “guess the city” game based on IATA airport codes.

The geography quiz let visitors choose prizes from a destination-themed wall. My guest and I correctly answered the airport codes and took home prizes from the Cathay-themed shop, with your correspondent displaying the deeply unfair advantage of an aviation editor.

Trying the Premium Economy Seat

Two cabin crew presenters walked my guest through the new premium economy seat first. Cathay's new Boeing 777-300ER premium economy cabin includes 15.6-inch screens and Bluetooth audio. The seat also includes a fold-out tray.

Apart from a decent layback position, the seat also has an easy-chair-style leg rest made from the same woven fabric as the seat and includes a sturdy feet rest for a better resting position in CX's premium economy on long-haul flights.

Experiencing the Aria Suite

The Aria Suite, presented by its own cabin crew member, drew the longest looks, and it was the one I got to experience.

The suite's door "enhance[s] your privacy," and at six feet tall I fit comfortably in the lie-flat seat configuration with my feet propped on the ottoman inside the suite—I felt comfy enough to assume I would get a good rest on a flight from New York to Hong Kong.

One of the crew members pointed out the Aria Suite's wireless charging pad as "a small little square" barely visible on the far-end corner of the small table the where you would place your phone to charge during your flight.

The demonstration also covered USB-C charging on the side, with the explanation that "if you go to the restroom and you don't want to bring your phone with you, you can just leave it here." Cathay lists wireless charging and USB-C and USB-A ports among the Aria Suite's features.

Cathay's cabin crew presenters also noted a storage compartment in the Aria Suite and "a very cute mirror — this is very welcomed by a lot of the people," plus a personal control handset for the TV and lighting.

These were impressions from a ground display. The Aria Suite is installed on retrofitted Boeing 777-300ERs configured with 45 business, 48 premium economy and 268 economy seats.

New York Cabin and Lounge Timing

I asked when New York travelers could expect the new cabins. Discussing the retrofitted 777 configuration, the "77J," Jason could not offer a firm deployment date "at the moment, but hopefully in the next six to eight months or so we'll be able to get the products," adding that the airline is "undergoing a cabin retrofit program... it's a progress and it will come soon." His answer was a hope expressed during the tour, rather than a confirmed deployment schedule.

Cathay's event fact sheet provides a broader window: the new cabins are expected to be progressively introduced on select New York–Hong Kong flights in 2027. The retrofitted aircraft already serve Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver.

The planned lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Terminal 6 drew the most animated answer of my conversation with Jason. Cathay announced its first dedicated lounge in the New York market in 2024.

"We don't have a clear date — this is something very close to our heart," Jason said. "What we can say about the JFK lounge: it is really a next level of lounge proposition for us, especially in the East Coast and the New York market. This is the first time that we ever get our dedicated lounge space for Cathay."

Cathay's event fact sheet describes a planned roughly 10,000-square-foot lounge for nearly 200 guests, with direct boarding via an aerobridge.

For premium passengers and high-value members, he said, "it will be a very consistent experience from JFK" through Hong Kong onward to Asia, China and Southeast Asia. The New York lounge and cabin rollout were also discussed in Airways' February 2025 interview with Cathay's Americas leadership.

Aircraft mechanic Ellie Padre, visiting from Vancouver, was happier talking hardware than timelines. He works on Cathay aircraft and other carriers’ fleets, with experience on 777s, A350s and 787s. Asked about the Aria Suite’s New York arrival, he laughed off the question with “I'm just a mechanic” and left the scheduling discussion there. So I'll leave it here, too.

The airline, founded in 1946, said its summer 2026 North America network comprised close to 120 weekly return passenger flights. In August, the Cathay Group said it had committed around HK$150bn to fleet, cabins, lounges and digital innovation.

For New Yorkers who want to try the displays themselves, the public pop-up runs October 9–10, 2026, from 11am to 7pm at Hudson Yards' Public Square and Gardens. All times are local.