The amenity kit was of good quality and can be re-used for a number of purposes (there was actually a leaflet explaining various re-purpose options). With OS now starting to fiddle around with Premium Economy soon (see. SWISS is planning on shrinking its fleet by 15 aircraft, which represents about 15% of its fleet. . Overall, both the food, presentation and general service was of good quality and nicely done. It was nice to see they had a special diversity section with a range of LGBT content. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. I flew Swiss recently and also found the boarding process to be chaotic, however if the gate has the electronic, self scan option then scanning your boarding pass allows you to pass, without needing to queue for the annoying document checks. The business-class lounge at Geneva has since re-opened, which will surely be a massive improvement compared to what I experienced. View the current offers here. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. In first class, passengers can expect eight suites, which are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. stream Since cargo is paying any long haul flying right now, that is an really important factor. Any updated news on the refurbishment schedule? The contents were the same but it felt much nicer, and the tin is very useful to have. Every type from fighters to helicopters from air forces around the globe, Classic Airliners The crew were very professional throughout the entire flight in a way that some US carriers' crew aren't. our review of the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 2 here, our review of the SWISS Senator Lounge at Zurich Terminal E here, Over 500m worth of e-vouchers still unused (IAG). Your feedback is important in helping us keep our community safe. The new flight will bring service on the Zurich-Washington, D.C. route to 14 weekly frequencies provided by SWISS and its joint-venture . Lufthansa Group has ordered some A350-900s and 787-9s, Review: SWISS Alpine Lounge Zurich Airport (ZRH), Review: SWISS Senator Lounge Geneva Airport (GVA), SWISS Launches Dine On Demand In Business Class, Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners, Retiring five long haul aircraft, either A330s or A340s, Retiring 10 short haul aircraft, including SWISS mainline aircraft and planes belonging to partner Helvetic Airways; presumably this will include some A320-family aircraft, as well as some Embraer 190-family aircraft (I cant imagine, 14 Airbus A330-300s, seating 236 people each, Five Airbus A340-300s, seating 223 people each, 12 Boeing 777-300ERs, seating 340 people each, The plane has the worst fuel economy in SWISS long haul fleet, The plane is the oldest in SWISS long haul fleet the A340s are an average of 17 years old, the A330s are an average of 10 years old, and the 777s are an average of three years old. Voting Is Now Open for the 2021 FlyerTalk Awards! (Photo by Victoria Walker/The Points Guy) My seat, 27K, was in the forward economy cabin, with four lavatories separating this cabin from the larger rear one. They have a much bigger cargo capacity. Photos taken by airborne photographers of airborne aircraft, Special Paint Schemes One was set up for First Class and Business Class passengers whilst the other two were for economy passengers. I like airlines which have flexible table sizing as it means you dont need to have a massive table out just for a small drink or similar. The toilet between the front- and back-business-class sections on the left hand side was very spacious (it's the wheelchair-accessible one) and had some premium amenities including cute tubes of face cream. Wir entschuldigen den Unterbruch. I chose it hoping to have more legroom . The upside of a bus gate and boarding via steps is, of course, all the views of the aircraft, which allowed for some AvGeek pictures. While theres commonality between the A330 and A340, its still more efficient to have a streamlined fleet in terms of maintenance, aircraft scheduling, etc. Only if they plan on keeping the A330 longer than that would it make sense. Next to the 777, the A340 has proven to be a workhorse during the crisis. The new flight will bring service on the Zurich-Washington, D.C. route to 14 weekly frequencies provided by SWISS and its joint-venture partner United Airlines. )(V"L'hm&6x_WN_^mnf 9Mc=q^bI"9NKF&'&uS6hkLf}:+)brm3OCUF ^225X/2Jq"Zdn9P5%9nIO8SBLf0*$2.H'{ja'RO')U GS]&sL/4t/U`VLe^iuld)"47QrQf72dR5+e1Y;RFC\|:85Nx$A.&- So all depends on if and when pax travel to Asia will recover. The airline's A330s have an average age of just over 15 years. SWISS operates its Airbus A340s on services between Zurich and Boston, Johannesburg and Shanghai. The route will be operated with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft seating 236 passengers. Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points. Opinions expressed here are the authors alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Aircraft painted in beautiful and original liveries, Airport Overviews There is only one option for dessert, the cheesecake with chocolate sponge, but you can also have a little selection of cheese: In total, the meal service took 2-3 hours from take-off before all was said and done. Does anyone has any update on progress of A340 refurbishment? Behind this is a very small Business Class cabin made up of just two rows, followed by a larger Business Class cabin made up of eight rows. However travelling in First to Boston they lost my luggage and werent exactly stellar in their handling of this. In addition, the 340 is better for cargo and has the new C / F class installed. Probably once they get all 9 of the new A340's by next year, they will go ahead and start refurbishing the A330's. Reply Aug 25, 19, 2:39 pm # 324 behuman Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: my heart is on the shores of the north Italian lakes This wouldnt necessarily be a problem but the airline staff went about it in a completely chaotic way, setting up three temporary trolleys to process passengers. Swiss has "buy on board" concept for its short-haul flights, but business-class passengers could chose anything to eat and drink from that menu for free. See more about our ethics policies here. Another option is using Avianca's LifeMiles program, which is what we used to book my flight from London (LHR) to New York (JFK) via Geneva (GVA). The "single" window seats on the right hand side are typically reserved for HON Circle and Senator Miles & More members. Swiss has finally finished upgrading its Airbus A340s. Sister airline Lufthansa is in the process of retiring its entire A340 fleet, while the airline continues to fly all of its A330s. [flight_stats ticket-class="first" review-stat-section="Service" tpg-rating="24" tpg-rating-max="25" live-tv="0" tailcam="0" headphones="0" comp-alcohol="0" extra-pillows="No" turndown-service="No" /]. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Whilst the food in the lounges has not been the greatest, I liked the style and brightness of the Zurich lounge in particular. Swiss will be more "focused" and "more digital"? The A330s are in storage right now. Hi Ben, minor correction: Helvetic is not a subsidiary of Swiss. Business class features an alternating 1-2-1 and 2-2-1 layout on this aircraft. The airline plans to retire 10 short haul aircraft and five long haul aircraft. FYI, SWISS has stated that no destinations are being but, rather frequencies will be adjusted. I can bet my ass off that LX will keep the A340s and sell a few A330s. We apologise for the interruption. TOP HOTEL BONUS POINTS OFFERS (MARCH 2023), How to get free hotel elite status from UK credit cards, Get exclusive benefits on luxury hotel bookings via HfP. Welcome! Could SWISS really be considering keeping these older A340s and retiring some A330s instead, or is the airline just being intentionally vague for now? Let us improve how you travel. Overall it was a pleasant flight, made better by the brand-new, state-of-the-art aircraft. Detailed review: Roger. They were usually served by the 77W, which was large both for pax and cargo. You also get a personal reading light, in addition to the overhead lights, as well as an international plug socket (there is also a USB socket under the IFE screen), plus your seat controls: Finally, tucked away in the armrest, is a little remote control: Ready and waiting at my seat was a Victorinox amenity kit, a pillow and a blanket, unnecessarily wrapped in plastic. is the General Manager for The Points Guy UK, based in London. I think Swiss will keep the A340 around for a while longer having made that recent investment. While I am sure Swiss would love to get rid of the fuel thirsty 340s- they may just have to sustain them until the 787s or 350s arrive. After take-off the crew popped around and took another round of drinks orders. Again, a full bar was on offer. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). Please view our advertising policy page for more information. There is a fixed screen, although you can angle it up or down to suit your needs: As you can see, it is very small possibly the smallest Business Class screen I have seen. The 330s will also need a refresh soonits not cheap to refresh a cabin. I decided to head to our gate about an hour before departure to get some pictures of our plane probably a smart move anyway, as there was another passport check for all C gates, which is where many long-haul international flights were departing from. Photo: Thomas J. Hayden-Lefebvre. Last I heard it was "to be determined." During the ongoing airport refurbishment, it seems that most long-haul flights depart from these types of gates. While we sat in the larger secondary business section on our first flight, we happily nabbed seats 4D and 4G in the A330's mini-cabin on this flight. These are the even numbered A seats, so 4A, 6A, 8A and so forth. If anyone on our team wouldnt recommend it to a friend or a family member, we wouldnt recommend it on The Points Guy either. I bet that the older A340/A330 will go. Related reading: Review: Swiss (A340) first class from San Francisco to Zurich. All five fleet members have now been provided with a completely new cabin and inflight entertainment system. The Boeing 777 comes with a private wardrobe equipped with hangers that also functions as a door, completely separating you from the aisle. but let this be a lesson dont ever pick row 9. The A330 has 8F/45C/183Y, the A340 'only' 8/47/164, so they will most certainly try to get in 10-19 extra Y seats. Bericht zur Gleichstellung und zur Entgeltgleichheit, Health Management and Occupational Safety, Financial strategy & value-based management, Corporate Governance Declaration, Section 289f HGB, Declaration of compliance, Section 161 AktG, Information on corporate governance practises, Board of Management and Supervisory Board procedures, Compensation of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, Law on the equal participation of women and men in executive positions, Articles of Association and Rules of Procedure, Shares held by members of the Executive Board. . By logging into your account, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and the use of cookies as described therein. Here are the right contact partners for your specific queries of the Lufthansa Group: Investor Relations contacts for private and professional investors: Should you wish to contact Lufthansa as a customer or business partner, please phone our hotline in Germany on +49 69 86 799 799. 2 0 obj While most airlines have retired the A340, SWISS seems quite committed to the aircraft, having just spent so much money refreshing the planes. Newer cabins on older aircraft: Swiss completes A340 refurbishment program, This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. I liked the potato and leek puree despite its looks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. You can see one on the far right here: Second best if you are a solo traveller are the single seats on the right hand side of the aircraft, ie. As a result, business-class passengers received a measly 10 euro voucher for food and drink at one of the airport shops, which I thought was a pretty subpar compromise. Some of the west coast and Asian routes may not be able to serviced by A330 and the 77W have way too much capacity for these thinner routes. Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, Brussels, LOT and Other Partners | Miles & More, FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides. The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. . Its worth noting that, if you get a SWISS A340, you will get a newly refurbished cabin. As of 1 March, the airline will also launch the retrofitted A340 on service between ZRH and Osaka (KIX). In an era of efficient, twin-engine 787s and A350s, four engine aircraft are on the decline. The range of the 333 is limited and it also has no crew rest, unlike the 340, which means F class has to be blocked for resting purposes on some routes. Anyone who needs to be online for a serious amount of time (or doing a serious amount of work) is going to find that getting connected on board a Swiss aircraft is very expensive. Plus, your own feed of TPG content. Another major cruise line hikes drinks package costs sharply but there's a twist, Get more from your points with these transfer bonuses. [flight_stats ticket-class="first" review-stat-section="Amenities and IFE" tpg-rating="8" tpg-rating-max="15" live-tv="No" tailcam="No" headphones="0" comp-alcohol="0" extra-pillows="0" turndown-service="0" /]. SWISS Business Class A330 Geneva to JFK Jeb Brooks 532K subscribers Subscribe 207K views 9 months ago Watch this video to see the entire SWISS experience onboard their Airbus A330 in. Got any questions? Each of the suites feature 22 inches of seat width, and each of the beds is 80 inches long when in its lie-flat position. To get us from A to B Swiss needs planes. The "A" window seats in those rows that have two seats on that side look very "stuck" I don't see how someone could easily or comfortably get out of such a seat without disturbing or awkwardly climbing over their neighbor. If anyone on our team wouldnt recommend it to a friend or a family member, we wouldnt recommend it on The Points Guy either. Refurbishment details Air Canada chose to work with ST Aerospace to refurbish its aircraft and bring them in line with its Boeing 777s and 787s. I had contemplated trying to get some more sleep just as the service started. Despite recent complications, the aircraft have been finished on time. The menu, food and presentation was also very good. /], [tpg_rating tpg-rating-score="80" ground-experience="4" cabin-seat="22" amens-ife="8" food-bev="22" service="24" pros="Smart-looking cabin, comfortable throne seat and fantastic service." Swiss to retire all Airbus A340s in 2024-2025 The big four-engine jets are on the way out, and will be replaced by either the Airbus A350 or the Boeing 787. Without these I think the experience would have been poor but its hard not to like an enthusiastic crew chatting away in Swiss-German. How is being " more digital" a thing to promote as a positive when talking about being shrinking the airline? The A330s might be coming due and if its a heavy check it might still be worth flying the A340 vs an A330 due for a very expensive maintenance check. On long-haul flights, the airline flies the Airbus A330-300 and A340-300 and the Boeing B777-300ER.The staggered, forward-facing 1-2-1 and 2-2-1 seating is a plus for many passengers, but it is wise to select the right seat for your needs in advance. I understood that this would only happen 2018. Views from inside the cockpit, Aircraft Cabins While I am sure Swiss would love to get rid of the fuel thirsty 340s- they may just have to sustain them until the 787s or 350s arrive. As mentioned previously I was given a menu after boarding. Find the right card for you. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit. But it will also be more focused, more digital, more efficient and more sustainable. I can bet my ass off that LX will keep the A340s and sell a few A330s. G'DAY OWFsquad and welcome to my 13th flight in 2020! I did notice, though, that a few of the other passengers were struggling with their bags while climbing the steep steps. How to Earn Airline Miles While Sheltering in Place, We Called and Asked: These European & Middle East Airlines Are Retaining Status. Swiss A330s feature first, business and economy class cabins. Now, pax demand close to zero, but cargo is doing well on these very long routes, so the A340 is the best fit. Is IHG One Rewards the best hotel loyalty scheme? Both military and civil versions, Blimps / Airships Swiss operates only one model of Airbus, A330-300. cons="Lackluster ground experience and outrageously expensive Wi-Fi." My plane for the next seven-hours, a SWISS A330. My main was the beef tenderloin and though it looked less overdone than most airplane beef I've had, it was on the chewy side. Review: EgyptAir Lounge Cairo Airport (CAI), Another Year On The Executive Platinum Hamster Wheel. A cabin get in 10-19 extra Y seats the potato and leek puree despite its looks better for cargo has... More from your points with these transfer bonuses provided by Swiss and joint-venture. 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