Cathay Pacific Removed Its First-Class Lounge Cabanas. That Tells You Where Luxury Travel Is Heading
Photo Credit: The Cathay Pacific Wing First Class Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport reopened earlier this year. Cathay Pacific
Skift Take
Cathay Pacific is quietly building something harder to copy — a network-wide design operating system that survives different airports and local teams.
On Experience
Colin Nagy is a marketing strategist and writes on customer-centric experiences and innovation across the luxury sector, hotels, aviation, and beyond. You can read all of his writing here.The Cathay Pacific Wing First Class Lounge reopened at Hong Kong International in April after 11 months of renovation, the first significant overhaul since 2013. This particular lounge has had a long history of superb design, starting with the first edition from noted British designer John Pawson, and the recent iterations have been in the talented hands of Ilse Crawford, who has put her touch on how premium passengers experience the brand when they aren't onboard.
But there is one juicy omission. For over a decade, the cabanas in the Wing were the standalone hit, and arguably a top 10 photographed amenity in commercial aviation. They were private suites with full-length daybeds and deep soaking bathtubs, enough square footage to feel almost residential in a transit terminal. 2015-era travel geeks structured Hong Kong layovers around them and coveted access the way collectors covet rare objects.
