I live in Europe, and typically flying here in a premium cabin isn’t so glamorous – it’s just economy with a blocked middle seat. I do get excited by flights that feature a “real” business class product on intra-European flights, as they offer a significantly upgraded onboard experience.
Swiss filed a few routes over the summer with widebody aircraft, particularly to high-demand holidaymaker destinations on some weekly frequencies. I thought this was worth writing a post about, since they can represent a great opportunity if you’re looking to fly between these destinations.
Swiss Adds 6 Widebody European Routes Over Summer Season
Swiss filed their schedule for the Northern summer, and has filed the following widebody aircraft routes (as per Aeroroutes):
- Zurich to Alicante will be operated by an A340 on Saturdays between May 30 and Aug 22, as LX2172/2173
- Zurich to Dusseldorf will be operated by an A350 on Mondays and Wednesdays between April 6 and October 21, as LX1026/1027
- Zurich to Hannover will be operated by an A350 on Tuesdays between October 6 and 20, as LX814/815
- Zurich to Malaga will be operated by an A340 on Saturdays between April 11 and May 23, and Aug 29 and Oct 24, as LX2118/2119
- Zurich to Nice will be operated by an A350 on Mondays and Wednesdays between June 29 and August 19, as LX566/567
- Zurich to Prague will be operated by an A350 on Tuesdays and Thursdays as LX1484/1485 (this is already happening, and will continue until Oct 2, where it’ll be swapped to just Thursdays)
Some European airports will see Swiss’ brand new A350, particularly in leisure destinations
As you can see, these are largely holidaymaker destinations with higher demand over the summer season, and presumably meant to ramp up capacity for those routes. Also, these routes are scheduled to be operated by widebody aircraft once or twice a week on one frequency, as opposed to being swapped daily.
What can you expect on a widebody Swiss flight?
As you can see above, four destinations will see Swiss’ brand-new A350, and two destinations will see an upgrade to an A340.
Sitting in business class on an A350 is a particularly good upgrade, as you’ll get Swiss’ new Swiss Senses business class product. While some may argue that this isn’t the best new business class seat out there, it’s certainly awesome to be able to try this seat on a 1h 15m flight, for the fraction of the cost of what you’d be paying on a longhaul flight.
Swiss A350 Business Class
In case you were wondering, Swiss doesn’t seem to be allowing people to select the first class cabin on these flights (despite it being sold as business class), though all seats are available for selection free of charge – including the fully-enclosed business suites at the front of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, the A340s operating to Alicante and Malaga have the airline’s previous-generation (though still updated) staggered seat, where most seats feature direct aisle access.
Swiss A340 Business Class
While business class is where the most obvious upgrades are, these flights are great options even if you’re flying economy, as the longhaul seats will be much more comfortable as well. Expect better legroom and recline, headrests, an entertainment system, and in-seat power.
Swiss A340 Economy Class
You’ll even be able to select a premium economy seat, which surprisingly is being priced below an extra-legroom seat in economy. For example, from Zurich to Dusseldorf on an Economy Classic fare, a “preferred zone” premium economy seat costs £22.40 (HK$232) to select, whereas an extra-legroom seat costs £32.10 (HK$333).
A premium economy seat costs extra, but not that much extra
This gets you a seat with more legroom and recline, though admittedly the marginal comfort is much more appealing on a longhaul flight than on these shorter flights. Here’s a review I wrote of Swiss’ premium economy on the longhaul flight to Hong Kong.
Swiss A340 Premium Economy
As a point of comparison, many of these flights above are otherwise operated by Swiss’ A220s. While I like the A220 as a plane, these planes have much less comfortable seats with no inflight entertainment, and many don’t have WiFi or power ports either. So it’s worth going out of your way to choose one of these widebody aircraft, even if it’s just for the “fun” factor.
Swiss A220 interior
Conclusion
Swiss introduced one of their largest intra-European widebody aircraft schedules for the Northern summer season this year, and there are plenty of opportunities to fly on a widebody Swiss aircraft, including their brand-new A350. If you’re looking to fly between Zurich and one of the above destinations, this could be an opportunity to seek out a widebody Swiss flight.
Are you going to try one of these widebody intra-European routes this summer?
