Swiss is debuting new first and business class seats in 2025, and they just released some new details. Here are the details of the new cabins, as well as some thoughts on how they compare to Swiss’ current product.
These are identical to Lufthansa’s new “Allegris” first and business class products, except that they have different finishes. It’s still worth talking about, given that I’ve always loved Swiss’ cabin finishes, and these products are no exception.
Swiss’ New Business Class
Swiss’ new business class will feature seats alternating in a 1-1-1 and 1-2-1 configuration. These are the same staggered seats Lufthansa is introducing, and are a modified version of the Recaro CL6710 seat, otherwise found on TAP Portugal, El Al, and United, among other aircraft.
Swiss’ new business class
What’s interesting is that Swiss currently already features a staggered business class seat across their longhaul fleet, designed by Thompson Aero as their VantageXL business class seat. The new product looks more spacious and features more storage space than the current VantageXL business class product, though it seems like an otherwise incremental improvement. Swiss already custom-modified their older business class seats to feature more width and better storage, and in fact didn’t update their A340s with these new seats very long ago.
Given that Swiss is planning to introduce their new business class seat across their entire fleet, it seems like a bit of a wasted investment, in my opinion.
Swiss’ current 777 business class
I suppose that this is the cost of the Lufthansa Group wanting consistency in their business class seats across their fleet. While these seats are a massive improvement for Lufthansa (since their current business class seat is subpar, and doesn’t feature direct aisle access), Swiss’ business class seat isn’t actually improving that much here, since they started with a far superior hard product.
According to the seat map, there’ll also be a “business plus” section in the front row right behind first class. This is especially interesting, since Swiss is continuing to operate first class on planes with this business class product (which essentially introduces a fifth class of service, given that they have first class, business class, premium economy, and economy). While Swiss didn’t release any pictures of their “business plus” concept, here’s Lufthansa’s identical “business plus” concept.
Lufthansa’s “Business Suite” (credit: Executive Traveller)
Swiss’ New First Class
Swiss’ new planes will have one row of first class, laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration. These seats look really sleek, and feature floor-to-ceiling doors.
Swiss’ new first class
I can’t help but feel like this is just Swiss’ current first class product with a higher door, though at least that’s a more-than-incremental improvement (since it does propel the seat towards an industry leading hard product).
Swiss’ current 777 first class
Which flights will get Swiss’ new first and business class products?
Swiss has released a seatmap of their A330, and their A350s and 777s will also get these new seats from 2025. Their A330s will feature four first class seats, 43 business class seats (8 of which are “business plus” seats with extra space), 21 premium economy seats, and 159 economy class seats. Premium economy and economy class will look very similar to what Swiss currently offers on their 777s and A340s.
As far as I’m aware, Swiss is eventually hoping to reconfigure their entire fleet with these new premium products, save for their A340s.
Are these seats competitive?
I can’t say much about first class (I’ve only ever flown Cathay Pacific and Korean Air’s first class seats), though from what I know, Swiss and Lufthansa will have an industry-leading first class product. The only airlines currently operating first class seats with floor-to-ceiling privacy are Emirates and Air France (the former features a door, and the latter features a curtain), and the seat otherwise looks really well put together.
Other bloggers have said this already, though I don’t feel the same about Swiss’ new business class. It looks perfectly alright, though I’d say that out of the airlines I’ve flown, Qatar Airways and British Airways feature a superior hard product (I base this off the staggered seats I’ve flown, which are alright, though seats near the aisle feel really exposed, and even seats by the window can feel less spacious than some other configurations). These new seats are perfectly competitive, though I can’t help but feel like other airlines are introducing nicer and better seats at the same time – Etihad, Air France, and ANA come to mind (actually, I’ll be trying a couple of these soon). Oh, and can I mention that the “Swiss Senses” name is oh-so-ridiculously-cheesy?
I’m still hoping to try these seats out on a future flight, though.
Conclusion
Swiss has introduced new cabin products to match Lufthansa’s new offerings. For business class in particular, while these seats are a big step up from Lufthansa’s current offerings, the same can’t be said about Swiss, which featured a far superior hard product than Lufthansa to start with. These seats are a nicer and better-designed version of Swiss’ current business class seats, though otherwise are laid out in a similar configuration. I personally believe this business class product represents a lost opportunity for the Lufthansa Group, and for Swiss in particular, as they could’ve invested in a cabin retrofit with a more industry-leading business class product.
These premium seats will debut in 2025, starting with Swiss’ A330s.
Are you looking forward to trying Swiss’ new cabin products?