An Important Notice

As you may have seen in my last post, I’ve been experiencing a few issues with the knightofmalta blog. I’m hoping that by changing the blog theme I finally may have resolved most of these issues. If you have the time, may I kindly ask you to just drop me a line in the comment box to let me know if the formatting of post looks okay or if the text and images look misaligned or out of proportion. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

William

Getting to the Airport

I finish my last class at 15h35. I then make a quick dash back to the office to lock away my things, collect my suitcase and make my way to the station. I catch the 15h56 train, which brings me into Zürich Flughafen railway station just before 16h10. Being the mid-afternoon, the train carriage is completely deserted.

Check-in

I’ve already checked in online. Just a brief status update: no, the SWISS app still does not show my boarding passes on the lock screen. But I digress. I’d like to drop off my suitcase, mainly because a) storage in the cabin is rather limited on the A 220, even in Business Class, and b) it’s rather heavy. There is a dedicated SWISS check-in zone one floor up from the railway station’s platforms. There is a segregated row of counters for Business Class check-in.

As the passage leading to Terminal A is now permanently closed, I take the escalators two floors up from Check-in Area 3 and then cross over into Terminal B using the foot bridge.

Airside

Security is a bit of a mess. There aren’t even all that many people queueing. But somehow, here it Zürich airport they manage to create a queue out of nowhere. Eventually, by the time I’m through security it’s already 16h30. The flight should start boarding at at 17h20.

So instead of bothering with an overly crowded lounge, I decide to head out on to the outdoor terrace of the sports bar, which is now open again for the summer season.

They’ve even put up shades to protect visitors from the glaring sun.

Boarding

While I sit there observing the coming and going on the ramp, I receive a notification from SWISS that my flight has been delayed by thirty minutes due to the aircraft’s late arrival. The aircraft is still on its way back from Sofia. With Bulgaria being a non-Schengen country, I’m assuming this means the flight will be boarding from a gate on the B pier.

I wait to board until the end to avoid holding everbody else up. I’m seated on 1A. Ahead of me is a guy with a small suitcase and a SWISS crew baggage tag. He steps on board and is greeted by the maître de like a long lost friend. They chatter amicably, right there in the middle of the aisle, so that I can’t pass. So I just stand there, waiting for them to get on with it. The guy who entered ahead of me asks if there’s any seat left in Business Class, to which she answers that 1A is still empty, “that guy probably won’t show anyway…”. My heart warms, SWISS. I feel so welcome right now.

The Cabin & Seat

There are four rows of Business Class on this flight. One row one the seat pitch is actually a bit worse than it is on row two, mainly because you can’t tuck your legs under the seat in front of you. It’s okay, but I’m not sure I’d want to fly to either Cairo or Tel Aviv in one of these things.

Behind me is a father and his little boy, who I’d guess is probably around one year old. Even before we push back, the little moster has kicked and pushed my seat back so often that I’m already starting to feel the start of another backached coming on, while his idiot father just looks on helplessly.

The Crew & Service

The maître de is professional and has obviously gotten over her disappointment at 1A not remaining empty for her bestie on this service. She’s what would generally be referred to as business friendly, meaning that her interaction with pasangers is more transactional than friendly. The towel and still water are already at my seat when I arrive.

The doors close a short while after, but we remain on our stand for another ten minutes before we’re finally cleared to push back and start up. By this time, we’re running 45 minutes late.

The Edelweiss special livery on the other side beats us to the start of runway 28.

Once they’re off the ground, it’s finally our turn.

Our routing to Vienna takes us past Lake Constance just a few minutes after departure on an easterly track.

The Meal

The crew are quickly released and the meal service begins, such at it were… The main dish is thin slices of unappealing pinkish looking meat which have been smothered in thick globules of yellow (curry?) coloured mayo. Sprinkled on top are a few slices of pickled radish and apple… pinapple… something.

With that, there is a plate of cheese, which is served with warm bread rolls.

And kudos to SWISS for still using proper metal cutlery. For dessert, there’s some kind of foam/mousse, which I don’t try.

By far the best part of the meal is the excellent cup of Sirocco mint tea that is served with a small piece of chocolate.

Arrival

The flight passes quickly, and soon enough we’re descending into Vienna.

The approach brings us in right over the city. I can see the Hofburg and the Stephans Dom.

We taxi to our stand and the beginning of the F pier. The SWISS flight from Geneva beat us to it and is already on stand a few positions down.

The suitcases take forty minutes to arrive, so that eventually I manage to catch the 20h38 train into the city. The CAT fast train operates twice an hour from the airport, at 08 and 38 past thr hours. Tickets can be purchased online or at the station. A return with a 24 hour ticket for the Viennese metro cost EUR30.-, which I think is quite steep.

The train runs nonstop to Landstrasse/Wien Mitte in 16 minutes. From there I change to the metro line U4 to Schwedenstrasse.

Conclusion

The flight with SWISS was okay. You can hardly go wrong on a flight of only seventy minutes duration. The meal was not very appealing, and I wonder whether the airline wouldn’t be doing itself a favour to offer simpler, less elaborate but better quality meals on these short sectors.