WARNING - Some Cathay Pacific flights not allowing carseats

M

m2cw2mhk

Registered User
Just wanted to let everyone know - if you are planning to take a baby/small child on a Cathay Pacific flight and are planning to use a car seat to keep the baby safe/restrained, CALL FIRST and make sure the plane allows carseats. Their new Airbus 330, and possibly their newer 747s, have a new seat belt design that does not work with carseats. The label on the back of the new seat belt indicates that some sort of seat belt extender can theoretically be used, but we just flew to Australia and back and were not allowed to bring our car seat on board. And, even though we specifically booked a seat for our 7 month old, nobody mentioned this to us when booking (I booked in person at the Cathay office in TST.) My daughter is too big for the bassinet now and would climb out of it easily, so the only option for her is to sit on our laps, which to me is not as safe. The little infant seat belts they provide do not do much to keep a squirmy baby in place. It is also very challenging getting a baby to sleep with no carseat for her to relax in, especially on an overnight flight.

They claimed that they are working on providing seat belts that will work with carseats in the future. I sure hope so, as right now these planes are really not very safe or convenient for families traveling with children between about 6-7 months and 2-3 years (when they can sit in a regular seat on their own.)

So, if you want to buy your infant/small child a seat and use a car seat, CALL FIRST and make sure the plane allows it.
 
Hi

Thanks for the warning. I think the reason is that the new economy seats in the Airbus (not sure about the 747s) have an airbag system so the car seat is not safe to use in the new seat. I understand that all Cathay Airbus economy seats have been changed now (it was an ongoing process). We had the same trouble and wanted to use our Sit n' Stroll car seat but also unable to use.
 
Same story for Air Canada. The new planes with the airbag seatbelts can't accomodate car seats/sit n'strolls. And like the OP, we discovered that at check-in. Although the check-in people really had no idea why, they just read from their manual which was irritating.
 
would the travel agent be able to advise when we book/buy the tickets?

i will be travelling soon for xmas and am planning to bring along my Graco carseat (US model), likely to be taking CX.
 
Likely the travel agent will have an idea but if, for example, car seats can only be used on certain aircraft types then the aircraft type can sometimes change last minute. My understanding is that all CX airbus have been changed so you cannot take a car seat. I am not sure whether you still can on the Boeing planes (747 and 777 etc).
 
I would call the airline directly. Also, they promise that they are trying to fix this. Further, the seat belt itself states on the label that it can be used with a carseat with an "extender" but perhaps Cathay does not yet have these extenders.

Gosh, when did airlines decide it was okay to just have planes that don't allow carseats and thus force parents of all older babies and younger toddlers to keep them as lap infants, which is so much less safer???
 
m2cw2mhk said:
Gosh, when did airlines decide it was okay to just have planes that don't allow carseats and thus force parents of all older babies and younger toddlers to keep them as lap infants, which is so much less safer???
Click to expand...

Exactly what we were wondering when the airline check-in people kept telling us it was for safety. Clearly done by someone without kids.
Same problem as they make seats narrower. On some newer planes, the seats aren't wide enough to fit a car seat and you would think you can just raise the seat arm but on some newer planes the seat arms do not move.

starbucks2--all CX airbus or just the longhaulers?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top