Review: Swiss Lounge D, Zurich (ZRH)

During my Star Alliance lounge run in London and Zurich, I visited all of the Star Alliance lounges in London and Zurich. Well, almost. In the process I missed one – the Swiss Lounge D at Zurich Airport, located by the airport’s D gates.

There were a couple of reasons that I missed out on the lounge. Firstly, I’d already moved in and out of the Schengen area that morning – I was flying from Zurich to Vienna, and had already stepped out of the Schengen area to try the lounge at Concourse E. I didn’t really want to appear suspicious by moving in and out of the Schengen area twice in one morning before a flight.

The second reason was that I’d already photographed the lounge during a late-evening visit in 2023. This was prior to my Swiss premium economy flight to Hong Kong, where I’d purchased access to this lounge prior to my visit. I never got around to reviewing the lounge at the time, though given I’m comparing all of Swiss’ lounges (and the lounge hasn’t changed much in the meantime according to other reviews), I thought I’d write this review up as well.

Swiss Lounge D Access and Opening Hours

The Swiss D lounge is open from 5:30 AM until 10 PM daily, covering all of the airline’s departures. Zurich Airport has a strict curfew, so no flights take off or land between 11:30 PM and 6 AM.

The lounge is open to:

• all Star Alliance business class passengers (including Swiss, Lufthansa, etc.)
• Star Alliance Gold members (there isn’t a Senator lounge at the D gates, as the two lounges were merged when this lounge was refurbished)
• Those who buy a Swiss lounge pass for 49 CHF (£46.45/HK$484) – premium economy passengers get a discount

Do note that this lounge is not located within the Schengen region of the airport – if you want to stay exclusively within the Schengen region, the lounges available to you are the main A-gates lounge, as well as the Alpine lounge if you’re flying Swiss or have Star Gold. Even if you’re flying within the Schengen region, you can use this lounge – you’ll just need to factor in time to exit and re-enter the Schengen region with a valid passport (if you have a single-entry visa, this won’t work for you). Simply explain to a border officer you want to use the lounge, and they’ll let you through.

Swiss Lounge D Location

The D-gates are frequented most by narrowbody aircraft flying outside the Schengen region – you’ll most likely be flying out of there on flights to the UK, Balkans, and North Africa. However, that’s not exclusively the case – I once had a flight from Hong Kong that pulled into here, whereas I’ve flown in from London and parked at the E-gates.

Fun fact – the planes actually park exactly where they would if you were flying out of a B-gate, though feed into different areas of the airport, as the D-gates are part of the non-Schengen area. In other words, gate B34 and D34 are in the same place (just on different levels of the airport) – the jetbridge is connected to either, depending on whether the flight is a Schengen or non-Schengen flight.

Anyway, I digress – the Swiss Lounge D is located just past passport control, on the way to the D-gates. You’ll find a hallway with good signage that leads to the Swiss Lounge D.

Signage to Swiss Lounge D

Follow the signs down the long hallway, and you’ll find the Swiss lounge located at the end of the hallway.

Swiss Lounge D Entrance

The lounge attendants letting me in were friendly, and I was admitted into the lounge.

Swiss Lounge D Seating and Atmosphere

The Swiss Lounge D was refurbished around 2023, and combined the previous Senator and business lounges located here. The lounge features five (small-ish) main seating areas.

The main lounging area after entering the lounge featured a wide range of comfortable seating, including armchairs, benches, and sofas. While I find Swiss’ brand overall a little tacky, I have to say I appreciate their new-style lounge design, including the wooden finishes, black metal open framing, and sleek matte black upholstery.

Swiss Lounge D Seating

Then through a corridor was a small bistro area, where there were some booths facing the tarmac.

Swiss Lounge D Bistro Seating

This lounge is located to the very south end of the airport, so the views aren’t as good as what you’ll get from the Alpine lounge or the E lounge, for example. However, there’s still great views of aircraft parked at some of the B/D gates, as well as some runway action from runway 34 in the distance.

Swiss Lounge D Tarmac Views

Then there’s a larger bistro area round the corner, which featured more restaurant-style seating.

Swiss Lounge D Bistro Area

Behind this was an area called “Vitra Exhibition Lounge”, featuring some furniture from Swiss designer Vitra. This area was quite whimsical in design, though I’m not sure how I feel about it – there was no Vitra branding beyond what was mentioned on the lounge’s floorplan, and the seating itself just didn’t seem the most capacity-efficient. I can imagine being quite annoyed by some of the seating here if the lounge was on the full side, though thankfully the lounge was so empty during my visit that I mostly enjoyed photographing the furniture.

Swiss Lounge D Vitra Exhibition Lounge

Like, I appreciate that I’m not the most well-versed in interior design, but do the below fixtures look comfortable to sit on?

Swiss Lounge D Vitra Exhibition Lounge

The last main space in the lounge was much more purpose-built for working, and was much more brightly lit. This area featured three work cubicles, as well as some working pods with L-shaped tables – I like that Swiss doesn’t skimp on their work setup, as all of the lounges I visited had great work areas.

Swiss Lounge D Work Setup

Then round the corner were some loungers. I would’ve wished this area was more dimly lit, for those who wanted to get a nap in before their flight.

Swiss Lounge D Loungers

There isn’t dedicated WiFi here – scan your boarding pass on a machine, which gives you a free 24-hour pass to Zurich Airport’s high-speed WiFi. This isn’t the most convenient, but is forgivable, given the WiFi measured 164 Mbps down and 99.4 Mbps up (and was available while walking through the terminal as well).

While I know I was critical about the Vitra Exhibition Lounge in particular, overall I found this lounge to be very well-designed, with good seating. Also, reports I’ve seen generally show that the lounge tends to be fairly empty, especially in contrast to some of Swiss’ other lounges at the airport. This is likely because Swiss’ D-gate departures make up a fairly small proportion of the airline’s flights. I’d expect the lounge to be most crowded in the morning, before the 7 AM departures to the UK/Balkans, as well as the 12 PM departures to London/Manchester and Cairo.

Swiss Lounge D Food and Beverage

I find the catering at Swiss’ business class lounges to be okay, and this lounge was no exception. The larger bistro (with the restaurant-style seating) was where the food spread was located.

There were a couple of hot options on offer, as well as a full salad bar.

Swiss Lounge D Food Spread

Then there was a “fresh market” section, featuring a few sweet treats.

 
Swiss Lounge D Food Spread

There was also a drinks section, including some soft drinks, wines, and beer. There isn’t barista coffee here, though the coffee from the machines is quite good.

Swiss Lounge D Drinks Spread

Drinks options also include the Rimuss Rosato alcohol-free sparkling wine, which I quite like. Other drink options include Swiss soft drink Rivella, Swiss beer, etc.

Swiss Lounge D Drinks Spread

There are also a couple of beers on tap, as well as coca-cola, iced tea, and an apple drink.

Swiss Lounge D Drinks on Tap

Then in the smaller bistro area, a drinks spread was available as well – this mirrored the one in the main food spread area.

Swiss Lounge D Drinks Spread

There isn’t a live cooking station here, unlike at Swiss’ other lounges.

While I’d totally recommend spending some time to relax and get some work done at a Swiss lounge, eating isn’t among the activities I’d be excited for. There are a few good drinks options, though many other hub lounges do catering much better.

Swiss Lounge D Shower

The Swiss lounge has a single shower room, and it’s actually located outside the lounge. Ask the receptionist to use a shower room, and you’ll be guided out of the hallway to a hidden room, which features a shower.

The shower room is decorated quite differently to those featured at Swiss’ new lounges – I believe this didn’t get updated from the older-style lounges situated here in the past. However, it was still well-appointed, and featured Soeder toiletries.

Swiss Lounge D Shower Room

Conclusion: Swiss Lounge D

Many describe the Swiss lounge D as a pleasant surprise, and in many ways I’d agree. The lounge tends to be much quieter than lounges in the Schengen area, and is a good place to spend some time. I’m definitely not the target market for the Vitra Exhibition Lounge (and otherwise find the seating there to be some of the least comfortable seating throughout the lounge, and definitely not space-efficient), though it does make for some nice whimsical photography when the lounge is otherwise empty.

However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to spend time here, especially if I wasn’t flying out of the D gates. The Alpine lounge is just as good (unless you want a shower), and there’s not much in the way of catering to get excited about. If I truly had time, I’d head over to the E lounge instead, which features one of my favourite airport amenities (assuming the weather’s good). I’ll be reviewing that lounge next.

What’s your favourite lounge at Zurich Airport?