Introduction

SWISS is one of only four European carriers that still offer a First Class product, the other three being Air France, British Airways, and Lufthansa. What makes SWISS slighly unusual is that a) it is a much smaller airline than the other three, and b) it has a First Class cabin installed on its entire wide-body fleet without exception. Presumably, SWISS’ First Class is an expression of the buying power of the Swiss market. Meanwhile, operational flexibility is achieved by relinquishing those mid- and long-haul routes with very little demand for a First Class service to Edelweiss Air.

As regular visitors to this blog know, my personal favourite among all the airlines offering a First Class service is Air France. However, SWISS is a close second. The passenger experience on the ground at its hub in Zürich is painless, smooth and clearly focused on the passenger’s well-being and comfort.

Check-in

I arrive at the airport at 18h00. I narrowly escape getting caught in a torrential downpour. SWISS checks in at Terminal 1, which is surprisingly quiet, considering it’s the start of the school holidays in Switzerland.

I make my way to the First Class check-in lounge, where I am seen to immediately. I receive the boarding passes to my final destination. In a very smooth and polished move, the check-in agent steps out from behind the computer to hand me back the passport and boarding passes and then wishes me a pleasant flight.

I head up the escalators to the First Class lounge’s reception. Behind reception is security, which is laid back and pleasant.

Before we do anything else, I urgently need a drink. I take a seat and ask the server for still water.

There’s a shuttle across the airfield to the E pier every twenty minutes. On my way to the shuttle, I briefly stop to take a photo of the original air terminal and tower, which were constructed in the 1950s.

The driver takes me and another passenger down to ground level, which is also where emigration takes place. From there we head outside to the waiting minibus to take us to the E pier on the other side of runway 28.

When we arrive at the other side, the driver escorts us to the lift which takes us straight up into the First Class lounge.

The lounge is very quiet. There’s only one more passenger there. I really like this lounge because it feels comfortable and welcoming. The views are not too shabby either.

The server brings me some sparkling water and the food menu. I spend an hour lounging about watching arrivals on runway 28, before I head over to the dining area for some food.

It is rather nice if you’re a plane geek to be able to sit there watching aircraft coming and going while you dine.

I order the salmon tartare, which is very nicely presented and tastes very good. It’s quite spicy! With that, bread rolls and butter are served.

I finish the meal with an espresso. I notice the server turning the saucer so that the SWISS logo on the napkin is the right way up.

Boarding

At 22h00 my flight shows up on the information screens as go to gate. I pack up my things and head to gate E 35, where boarding starts just as I arrive. There is a separated lane to queue for First Class passengers. However, the L1 airbridge is not connected.

The Cabin & Seat

I step aboard and make a left turn through the mini Business Class cabin and into the First Class cabin. Seven out of eight seats are occupied this evening.

I’m seated on 1A, which is the window seat. The cabin is configured in two rows with a 1+2+1 layout. The seat has aged well, I think, and is obviously well maintained. There are hardly any signs of wear and tear and all the controls are responsive.

Amenities

Since my last trip in SWISS First, they’ve changed the amenity kits. The previous ones were by Bally, whereas the new ones are by Zimmerli, the same Swiss brand that provides the First Class pajamas. I think the new ones are much nicer than the Bally ones, which looked a bit cheap.

The crew come to inquire about my pajama size, and I ask for an XL. I don’t like sleeping in tight clothes. They have both short- and long- sleeved pajamas.

Additional items are presented on a tray by the crew, and include Riccola sweets, mouthwash, socks, and cleaning cloths for glasses.

Next, I am brought a cold wet towel, which is just perfect because it’s quite muggy tonight. I‘m also brought the sparkling water I requested.

There’s also a voucher for complimentary wifi on board.

Once boarding is completed, the crew bring me an amuse bouche of warm flûtes and a mozzarella mousse on green beans.

Apparently, the thunderstorms in the Zürich area have messed up SWSS‘ flight connections. Originally, we‘re scheduled to depart at 22h40. However, eventually it’s 23h10 by the time we push back from the gate.

The start up sequence begins, and the engines of our mighty triple seven roar to life. LX176 bound for Singapore is officially on its way. By the time we take off from runway 32, it’s just gone 23h30.

The Meal – Midnight Dinner

The menus for this evening’s flight are handed out before departure. There’s a separate drinks menu. However, as I’ll be sticking with water, I tell the cabin crew she can keep it.

As soon as we’re airborne and the cabin crew is released, preparations for the meal service begin.

With the breadbasket there’s a choice of olive oil, butter or both. I just have the olive oil, which is just lovely with a sprinkle of salt.

To start, I have the balik salmon with crème fraîche and blinis, which is a bit of a SWISS signature dish and always nice!

Next comes the carrots tartare, which is a bit small but tastes rather unusual, together with the dill.

And then I have the cold pea soup which is, quite simply, stupendous!

For the main course, I have the veal filet mignons, which is a bit of a gamble. I don’t eat much meat usually. However, none of the other options appealed to me. The dish is good, especially the mustard sauce it quite remarkable. But the meat is way, way too rare for an occasional carnivore like myself. The filled conchiglie served with the meat are okay, but I’m not fully sure what the filling is supposed to be.

None of the desserts really appeal to me. So instead, I go with the cheese. I ask the flight attendant to stick to only those cheese made with cow milk, as I find them easier to digest. I also tell her that I’d really just like a taster.

The cheese is nicely presented, served with grapes, fruit bread, mustard chutney, and Darvida crackers.

Once I’m done, the table is quickly cleared away and the cabin crew offer to make up the bed for me while I go change.

Second Service – Brunch

I manage several hours of sound sleep and awake three hours out of Singapore. As usual over the Bay of Bengal, the turbulence is constant and quite severe.

The breakfast starts with another wet towel. This one is hot and mildly scented. I also have a coffee with milk.

The breakfast service is a lot less structured than the dinner service, in the sense that you can basically have everything off the menu. First, I’m brought a basket of warm bread and a small dish with butter.

Next, one of the cabin crew brings a tray with all sorts of things for me to choose from – fresh fruit, different flavoured joghurt, bircher müsli, cereals and jam.

She also asks about which egg dish I would like. There is a choice of either poached eggs with spinach or some kind of frittata with cheese, which is what I have. There would also have been a selection of cheese and cold cuts, but neither is offered by the crew and I don’t ask, so I’m not sure they’re actually available.

By the time the breakfast service is done, we just have slightly over one hour to run to Singapore. I open the blinds and enjoy the views of the landscape below.

Arrival in Singapore

We land in Singapore on schedule. I’m not really familiar with the layout of Changi airport, but we taxi for what feels like an eternity from the moment we vacate the runway to the moment we finally pull onto our stand at Terminal 2.

As we taxi in, we pass this sad looking A 380 that appears to be in long term storage. I’m guessing the fact that the engines are still mounted suggests it may return to service some day – just not likely very soon.

Conclusion

This was a polished performance by SWISS. The product on the ground at Zürich airport is great and helps make for a very painless travel experience. One of the receptionists at the lounge told me it was mayhem in the general transit area. The weather caused many delays and cancellations. As a result, the hotels were all full and there were still plenty more stranded passengers in the terminal with nowhere to go. But all of that completely passed me by in the lounge.

The inflight product has also stood the test of time. There have been some minor changes, but the overall product is consistent. The hardware is well maintained, and the crew were really great.

I think what strikes me the most about this flight, is just how big the gap is between SWISS’ First Class product and its Business Class offering. Of course, you get what you pay for. But there’s also to consider that a Business Class passenger might one day also become a First Class passenger.