I think by the time I board the flight to Zürich, we’ve cycled through the whole of the combined short-haul fleets of Helvetic, Edelweiss, and SWISS repeatedly. Seriously, how many aircraft changes can you possibly make for one flight?

Getting to Heathrow Terminal 2

A few days after I return on British Airways from Seattle, I’m back at Heathrow for my return back to Switzerland. The Piccadilly line ejects me at Heathrow Central, which is the stop for both terminals 2 (turn left) and 3 (turn right). The station is still marked as Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3, even though most of Terminal 1 was demolished a long time ago.

Check-In

Judging by the seatmap when I check in online, it’s going to be a full flight, which is why I decide to drop off my suitcase. The Lufthansa Group checks in on row D.

From check-in I make my way to the dedicated fast track security lane. The process is painless, but I really do wish Heathrow would invest in some foot covers, so you don’t have to stand around in your socks on the dirty floor.

Once I’m airside, I have a quick look around the shops. I rather like Terminal 2. It’s a shame that I don’t get to pass through it more often.

Lufthansa Terminal 2 Senator Lounge

The Lufthansa lounge is located above the single digit A gates. Access is via the escalators next to the Louis Vuitton shop. The lady at reception welcomes me to the lounge and prints the access QR code for the Senator lounge. Access to the Senator lounge is through a door at the end of the regular Business Class lounge.

It looks like a typical Senator lounge. You may like the design and the style, or you may not. One way or another, though, it’s rather comfortable.

What is not quite so comfortable and so nice are the many kids running around. One of them in particular, a little Greek squirt, is particularly tedious. Alas, his parents are worse because they just helplessly look on as the little creep goes pestering the lounge’s patrons. I stand by it, kids should simply not be allowed into a lounge. It’s not my fault their parents don’t know how to behave.

Boarding

The inbound from Zürich arrives with a delay of twenty minutes. I figure this is Heathrow. If the aircraft arrives late, it will inevitably leave again even later.

We start boarding twenty minutes late, and it looks like it’s going to be a very full flight. Yep, definitely not leaving on time today… Eventually, by the time we push back from our stand, we’re running 45 minutes behind schedule.

The Cabin & Seat

I mean, granted, I rarely pay much attention when I’m flying SWISS. But still, when I turn right into the cabin, it strikes me that something about the seat looks different. I think it’s that the seams on the seat have a red thread. Didn’t that used to be white?

In any case, I’m seated in 1A. The pitch isn’t quite as good as it is in KLM’s A 321 NEO, but it’s not bad. The Business Class cabin on today’s flight is completely full, and there are eight rows in the forward cabin, for a total of 32 seats.

The Service & Crew

As usual, packaged towels and still water are already at the seat when boarding starts. When it becomes clear that we won’t be moving off stand anytime soon, the crew pass through the cabin handing out the SWISS branded chocolates.

Other than that, this is another one of those typically SWISS crews – and I really don’t mean that in a good way. They’re just unprofessional. Instead of helping passengers stow their luggage during boarding, they’re too busy standing in the galley talking, and talking, and talking about seniority when travelling standby on staff tickets and discussing their salaries. And it’s just so mindless. At least have the decency to discuss your employer’s seniority scheme quietly, instead of belting it out for half the aircraft to hear.

Once we push back from the gate, it’s slow progress to the active runway, mainly because we’re number 10 in the departure sequence. Once we do get airborne, the views are spectacular. It’s a gorgeous day for flying and I can easily make out Gatwick as we past due west of the field as we head towards the English Channel. Our flight time is announced as 65 minutes.

The Meal

The meal service today is quite unusual for SWISS. The food is good, as usual, but it’s just the choice of dish that has me raising an eyebrow: it’s a mango salad with noodles in soy sauce and chicken breast with a spicy mayo. With that, there’s the two customary pieces of cheese, served with a bread roll, and a mandarin and chocolate mousse for dessert.

It’s rather a nice and refreshing meal. Just as I tackle dessert, I look out and spot Charles de Gaulle airport right below us.

Arrival in Zürich – An Epic Fail

We touch down in Zürich at 15h00. It’s a short taxi to our stand on the E pier for non-Schengen flights. Unfortunately, the aircraft that landed ahead of us is a Turkish A 330-300 that must have been very full. With one of the shuttles to the main terminal not working, the crowds waiting to take the shuttle across are huge. And when the SWISS B 777 from L. A. pulls onto its stand a few minutes after us, the chaos is perfect. Eventually, I have to wait at the station for thirty minutes before I finally manage to squeeze myself into the carriage, which is very obviously way, way over capacity. I’m thinking that at least this way, by the time I hit arrivals, my suitcase will already be waiting for me. But no such luck, when I eventually reach the belt, it’s empty and hasn’t even started moving yet.

Conclusion

The flight today was quite okay. Actually, I only noticed while I waited for the crowd for the shuttle to thin out that my expectations when travelling with the Lufthansa Group are surprisingly low. They’ve messed up so many of my trips that I already take it as a win if the flight lands on time and passes without the crew embarrassing themselves or their employer with their idle chitchat. However, the arrival experience at Zürich Airport I found quite alarming. If it’s already this bad now when they haven’t even started demolishing the old A pier, I daren’t imagine what the situation in Zürich will be like when they do start. Of course, this is not a SWISS issue, but an airport issue. But if the latter cannot resolve it soon, it will inevitably start to affect the former and their operation in Zürich.