Cathay Pacific Airlines

Cathay Pacific flight from LHR-HKG: It has been a while since I flew Cathay Pacific. I especially remember my flight segment from London’s Heathrow airport to Hong Kong (LHR-HKG). The aircraft was clean and the service team knew what they were doing, but what caught my attention was the fact that the seats were small and the seat back did not recline - but the bottom portion of the seat slid out to emulate a recline (weird if you ask me). On a long haul trip like this one, you do not want to be uncomfortable because the upright seats have such negative impact on your back and chest. I was excited about this trip since it was my first trip to Hong Kong and my first flight on a new carrier. Normally I do not complain much when I travel because I have seen so much good and bad that neutral is where I like to be, but this Cathay Pacific flight was something - I noticed that my seat belt had an unusually large lump of padding making it hard to have enough seating room not to mention the arm rest that needed to be fixed in order to stow well. Nonetheless I kept my thoughts to myself since my neighbour seemed less conversational and seemed to be chewing something that smelled awful. The seat belt itself also has a strange, very large, lump of padding on it - this can not be properly stowed out of the way and further eats into your seating space. The arm rest does not fold away properly. In its 'folded' position it still prominently protrudes from in-between the seat backs - again, very uncomfortable.

I would really caution anyone who considers themselves above average in size to look at options since the Cathay Pacific economy class has very small seats. I’m small and weigh just 126 lbs but I felt the seat was small, so imagine what someone at 160 lbs would feel.
As of last year (early 2008), there was talk of having the economy flights upgraded with better seating. I’m not sure if that has happened. I’m not flying into Asia anytime soon so I will probably not know what the flights are like. But even with the above said, I would fly Cathay Pacific again mainly because the air hostesses did an incredible job of being courteous and professional in their service, smiles on their faces gave one a felling of welcome to foreign places. The lavatories were kept clean and well scented. I have traveled flights where after three hours on a 10 hour flight, you do not want to use the lavatories because they are in terrible condition. This was not the case on this particular Cathay Pacific flight. All in all I had a good experience and would like to see the seats made more comfortable by having them recline and the buckles changed for the comfort of passengers. If it has already been done I would love to use them and enjoy the service once more. I’m a career Customer Service provider, so I’m quick to notice service above all else when I travel.
PS: I flew 7 years ago, so check out the more recent reviews, they might have made the much needed changes.