Passengers on some Cathay Pacific flights will face narrower economy class seats from as early as this month as the carrier squeezes in more people to boost profits. The move is expected to add HK$700m to Cathay’s bottom line annually when its refit is completed, helping the airline recover from two years of back-to-back losses. The redesigned seats on Boeing 777 aircraft will feature bigger TV screens and in-flight Wi-fi will be installed on the planes. The carrier will add an extra row of seats to its 777s to create a 10-abreast cabin. Around six planes will have the extra seats before the end of the summer while refitting of its fleet of 65 Boeing 777s will be completed by the end of next year. “This new configuration enables us to increase capacity offered to our passengers at this critical time when Hong Kong International Airport remains slot constrained,” an internal Cathay document said. “The new seats feature the latest ergonomic designs and brings us up to the standard of premium carriers in the industry.” New seats will include 11.6-inch entertainment screens and more movie and TV content, storage for smartphones and tablets plus plug sockets, with USB charging also provided.<br/>
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Qatar Airways signed a preliminary agreement Tuesday to buy 5 Boeing 777 Freighters worth $1.7b, the airline said. The letter of intent was signed at a ceremony attended by Qatar’s Minister of Finance Ali Sharif al-Emadi, who is also the airline’s chairman, Qatar Airways CE Akbar al-Baker, and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Kevin McAllister, the airline said. The order will be posted on Boeing’s orders and deliveries website once the purchase is finalised, the statement said. The airline did not say when it expected to complete the deal. “This transaction will be a reinforcement of our confidence in Boeing to continue to deliver an outstanding product that meets our exacting standards,” Baker said. “We expect no less than perfection, and we are confident that Boeing will continue to deliver that.”<br/>
Malaysia Airlines has indicated that it may be interested in buying 20-30 widebody jets from either Boeing or Airbus, a source said. Such a deal could either expand or replace a previous non-binding agreement with Boeing that was reached during a high-profile US visit by the country’s prime minister last year, the source said. Its MOU with Boeing to buy eight long-range 787 jets, valued at $2.25b at list prices, had come as a surprise given that the carrier already had an all-Airbus widebody fleet. For a carrier of Malaysia Airlines’ modest size to operate similar-sized planes from both manufacturers would tend to reduce efficiency and add to costs. While the Boeing 787 is included in the airline’s latest request for information for the 20-30 jets, it has also listed the Airbus A330neo and A350 for consideration, the source said. In a statement after the initial version of this story – which referred to a tender process - was published, Malaysia Airlines described it as “speculative and erroneous.” It said there is “no such tender process as alleged” and the MoU with Boeing remains in place. It said the airline will not be commenting on the matter further.<br/>