To recline or not? The New CX A330 ends the debate.

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Sequel

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Not sure if this has been discussed.

Flew in a new CX A330 SYD-HKG last week. (Sorry - no pics). At check-in, offered myself as available for an up-grade, "Sorry, full flight", as expected but always worth the try. She also mentioned that it was a brand new plane with the shell seats. That's great I thought, but as I assumed she was talking about J, and she had already declined my upgrade, I didn't think any more of it.

Upon boarding, my initial thoughts were "I didn't realise this was a 3 class service", but they were J seats, all individual little rooms (fully flat) running at 45 degress. I was travelling with a couple in J, and I thought lucky it is a night flight, as you wouldn't be able to speak to your partner unless you stood up and looked backwards over the wall.

Getting to my whY seat (normally forward Aisle for INT, but changed to a forward window for o/night flight) and noticed a very different looking seat. The back of the seat in front is gell-coated reinforced something, all one piece, with a wide screen, AVOD controls (not in the arm rest!), and some pockets/nets for mobiles/mp3's/lollies but no room for a big book.

The biggest difference is it no longer reclines! The shell stays fixed, the head rest is fixed to the shell, the top of the back rest slides vertically in the shell as the bottom of the backrest slides forwards with the base of the seat!

"PERFECT!" I thought, until about 2 hours into the flight when I treid to get some sleep. Between the shell coming up too far on the sides and the recline not "reclining" as such, it is the worst sleep I have had on a plane in a long while. I am normally a good plane sleeper. Only 4 weeks earlier I had slept almost the whole way of a CGK-SYD flight, sitting in Y on an old QF 767, next to a fellow passsenger who used all their seat plus some.

I would reccomend the plane for long haul day flights in Y. J would be great for o/night or day flights if you are travelling alone (or dont want to talk/hold hands with your partner).

Anybody else flown in one and have an opinion?
 
Personally I think this is a great idea and would love to see it installed on all aircraft. Is the seat comfortable to sit in? I am not interested in the recline feature but I am lucky in that I can sleep upright without any hassles.

Reclining is one of my biggest fears, along with lack of quality air flow, when travelling in an aircraft. If the person in front reclines for the duration of the flight, especially on long haul flights, then it really spoils my flight. Luckily I can pre-allocate, almost always, bulkhead or exit row.
 
JohnK said:
Is the seat comfortable to sit in?

The seat is comfortable to sit in, and the foot rest is a big soft piece of elastic. I fell asleep ok but just couldn't get comfy enough to stay asleep. As I had the window, I was trying to lean against it, however, as you can see in one of the pictures on the CX site, the side of the shell, near the arm rest, comes up quite high and digs into your side.

JohnK said:
Reclining is one of my biggest fears, along with lack of quality air flow, when travelling in an aircraft.

Unfortunately no individual air vents. Upon boarding it was hot enough to draw a sweat, and didn't cool down until about 4 hours into the flight. This might be a CX trait, as the older A330 for the return flight was the same (no individual vents and very warm).
 
Sequel said:
Unfortunately no individual air vents. Upon boarding it was hot enough to draw a sweat, and didn't cool down until about 4 hours into the flight. This might be a CX trait, as the older A330 for the return flight was the same (no individual vents and very warm).
Removal of individul airvents is one of the greatest errors in aircraft design as far as passenger comfort is concerned.

On seat comfort in general, one of my major complaints is the "spring" in the seat cushion. Too many times I feel like I'm sitting on a board. When that happens and the "numbum" sets in, everything else shrinks to insignificance.
 
Sequel said:
Unfortunately no individual air vents. Upon boarding it was hot enough to draw a sweat, and didn't cool down until about 4 hours into the flight. This might be a CX trait, as the older A330 for the return flight was the same (no individual vents and very warm).

CX like BA runs there cabins warmer although i did not think CX was too bad, its cheaper (aircon costs fuel to run).

I like the nice cool QF cabins. :)

Personal airvents as on older aircraft i think are a great idea, if you want to be cool open it up a little more !
 
Sequel said:
Unfortunately no individual air vents. Upon boarding it was hot enough to draw a sweat, and didn't cool down until about 4 hours into the flight. This might be a CX trait, as the older A330 for the return flight was the same (no individual vents and very warm).
Thanks for the update. It is always nice to know the opinion of regular flyers using the latest products/services available.

Personal air vents do not bother me too much as I do not use them that often. Something to do will cool, cold, air and drafts. What I am more interested in is general fresh air flow in the cabin which on some aircraft feels to me to be inadequate.
 
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JohnK said:
What I am more interested in is general fresh air flow in the cabin which on some aircraft feels to me to be inadequate.

I would rate the the airflow as inadequate, but then I prefer the colder QF cabins like Evan. You can always put a blanket on, but you can't take your shirt off (Atleast not on Etihad or China Eastern!).
 
Evan said:
CX like BA runs there cabins warmer although i did not think CX was too bad, its cheaper (aircon costs fuel to run).

I like the nice cool QF cabins. :)

Personal airvents as on older aircraft i think are a great idea, if you want to be cool open it up a little more !

Interestingly for me I was actually cold on a BA flight LHR-HKG this week and used the duvet! I have never used the airline blankets on any flights before...
 
Had the pleasure of tasting out the CX 330 J class seats on Sat. Not sure whether I like seating at an angle especially on take off and landing. love the 15.4" video screens though:D

Here's some pics. Not good quality as they were taken by my mobile phone.

Configuration is 1-2-1
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=126&stc=1&d=1191770377

Control panel on the side. Note the screen size:!:
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=127&stc=1&d=1191770234

New style AVOD control. Power point accepts all types
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=128&stc=1&d=1191770275

Your video screen is locked back to the side for take off and landing but you can watch the screen infront of you!!. Note the additional separate foot rest.
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=129&stc=1&d=1191770377

That "bulk" in the seat belt is an airbag!!:shock:
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=130&stc=1&d=1191770377
 

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Thanks for the pics, Ric. :)

simongr said:
Interestingly for me I was actually cold on a BA flight LHR-HKG this week and used the duvet! I have never used the airline blankets on any flights before...
That'd mirror my last experience on BA flying SIN-SYD. I had to ask for an extra blanket as I was completely unprepared for the coolness, but it was a very nice change from the usually overheated BA cabins. :)
 
Ric said:
That "bulk" in the seat belt is an airbag!!:shock:

Forgot to mention that there were airbags. I always thought the seatbelt was just so they can match body parts to seat numbers for identification.
 
The wife travelled Y on a CX330-300 on Tues enroute to china. She is barely 5foot 4 in the old scale and her first comment down the phone line before hello was how bad the CX trip was and that her knees were hard up against the seat in front.Not sure what row ,if that makes a difference, she insisted the QF A330 has more space. I'm not on to openly contradict the boss can anyone verify this or was she just having a bad day.
 
Having just flown the QF A330 in Y on the same route (and getting a good sleep), it appears that when you recline on QF (normal style), for me I can almost "lay flat" (in the skybed sense of the word), that is I have just enough room to straighten my body. You can draw a straigh line from the front of the foot well in between the seats up to the headrest. When you "recline" on CX you reduce the room between the leading edge of the seat and the back of the seat in front, which means you hit your knees as you try to stretch your legs out, . For reference I am an average 5'9".
 
Well, I was considering CX for my trip to China next month, but on reading these posts will stick with QF. At 6'3" the reduction in leg room in the recline position does not sound very appealing.

Will still have a CX flight HKG-PVG, but not sure if the new Y seats have been installed on the 773. At least that is a relatively short flight.
 
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