Cathay Pacific human-centric design thinking nets two wins at the prestigious Crystal Cabin Awards

Cathay Pacific has received two accolades at the Crystal Cabin Awards 2025. The airline was named winner of the Passenger Comfort category, with its new Aria Suite Business class introducing a ground-breaking system that unifies the inflight entertainment and cabin environment control like never before. Cathay Pacific was also named winner of the Judges’ Choice: Airline Innovation category for its innovative Gallery in the Skies art concept. 

General Manager Customer Experience Design Guillaume Vivet commented: “Being recognised with these prestigious awards is an incredible honour, and a reflection of our deep commitment to delivering a world-class customer experience through thoughtful, human-centric design. To be recognised with two awards in the same year for features as diverse as our IFE and control system and Gallery in the Skies in our Aria Suite cabins is a testament to the innovation and the holistic approach to design that guides everything we do for our customers. These accolades are the result of incredible teamwork by our people at Cathay Pacific and with our partners.”

Control your space with the IFE 

First launched on Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in October 2024, the all-new Aria Suite features a range of innovations and enhancements that take the Business class experience to the next level and provide an unparalleled level of comfort and control.

The entire suite environment can be controlled seamlessly through all connected control panels – a first in aircraft cabins. This unique experience was co-designed with JPA Design, alongside the award-winning IFE interface by Reaktor.

Furthermore, cabin lighting and seat position can all be synchronised with a single touch through Activity Modes. Featuring five pre-set modes that can be customised and saved, the Activity Modes empower customers to tailor their experience. The Aria Suite has six controllable lights with over 14 settings, providing an unmatched level of sophisticated ambience.

The IFE system now connects with aircraft systems to include a lavatory availability function. This intelligent feature helps travellers manage their time more effectively, reducing stress and unnecessary waiting.

These two Crystal Cabin Awards follow Cathay Pacific recently being recognised with two iF Design Awards for its In-Flight Entertainment Design & Experience, and another for its Aria Suite Business class product. 

Cathay Pacific’s IFE system was also named a Gold winner in the “Excellent Communications Design – Interactive User Experience” category of the German Design Award and a winner of the Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design – User Interface Design earlier this year.

Gallery in the Skies

Cathay Pacific’s Gallery in the Skies turns each of its retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER into an art space. The airline has curated 30 pieces of artwork to be displayed in its thoughtfully designed Business class cabins, with each aircraft having its own, unique artwork within the collection.

Created by 15 artists who share a deep connection with Hong Kong, each piece offers a different perspective on nature, ranging from urban landscapes to vividly imagined dreamscapes. Through their work, the artists capture and reflect the deep bond they share with Cathay Pacific’s home city.

To help guide the curation of the collection, Cathay Pacific worked with two leading figures in the Hong Kong art world – Co-Founder of the HK Art Gallery Association and Founder and CEO of Ora-Ora Art Group, Dr Henrietta Tsui-Leung, and avid art collector and co-founder of Yenn and Alan Lo Foundation, Alan Lo.