I just arrived in Zürich on a flight from Larnaca. It’s 16h15, and my onward connection to Gatwick should depart at 17h05.

Transfer in Zürich

Zürich Airport has two concourses for non-Schengen flights. One is on the midfield E pier, sandwiched in between the airport’s three runways, whereas the other is on the D/B pier at the main terminal building. My flight from Larnaca terminates in the E pier, the flight to Gatwick, however, will board from a bus gate on the D pier. I exit the aircraft from Larnaca and follow the signs for the D gates, which leads me to the underground shuttle that will take me across runway 28 to the main terminal building.

Once I arrive at the other side, I head up one flight of escalators. On my left is immigration for passengers entering Schengen. On my right is an underground tunnel that will eventually lead me to the security checkpoint to enter the D pier. The whole process is easy and takes about ten minutes walking at a leisurely pace.

The SWISS Business Class Lounge on the D Pier

The flight to Gatwick has been delayed to 17h50. Apparently, it snowed in Zürich during the day and disrupted the entire network. Which means I have enough time to visit the SWISS lounge in the remotest corner of the D pier. The place is surprisingly quiet for an early Friday evening, but I’m not complaining. Given how full the British Airways and KLM lounges in Heathrow and Amsterdam tend to get, this is a refreshing change.

Boarding

At 17h30 the flight is showing on the departures screen as Boarding. I pack up my things and make my way to gate D53. Boarding is already underway, so I figure I might as well wait for the second bus, which is usually not quite so crowded.

The bus stops right in front of our aircraft. The weather is dreadful. It’s cold and there’s rain and snow coming down. Still, I hold back to board last. That will give me a chance to take some photos.

The Cabin & Seat

I’m seated on 1A, the bulkhead. I’m the only person on row 1. In total, there are four rows of Business Class with eight seats, seven of which are occupied this evening. The seat is very basic and starting to look a bit old. It’s quite hard and not very comfortable. Other than that, though, the pitch is not bad at all.

The Service & Crew

There are three cabin crew on this flight. The maître de is a middle aged woman with a thick Spanish accent. She’s great and very attentive. Once boarding is completed and the doors are closed, the crew hand out towels and still water. I notice the maître de makes a point of using my name whenever she addresses me.

By the time we taxi out, we’re running fifty minutes late. There’s a bit of a queue for take-off, so I figure now’s a good time for some experimentation with my new iPhone, hence the somewhat creative outcome of the second photo below… our flight time to Gatwick is seventy minutes.

The Meal – Light Dinner

We take off from runway 28 and break through the cloud quickly. It takes a moment for the meal service to start. I suspect it’s mainly because the cockpit crew are fed ahead of the passenger service.

There are no choices for the meal, which is fair enough on such a short flight. The main course is a smoked salmon tatar with a horseradish cream and potato salad on the side. There’s also the obligatory side plate with the two pieces of cheese. With that, the crew serve warm bread rolls. And for dessert is some fruity, creamy thing. All in all, it’s not a bad meal. Once I’m done, I have a cup of Sirocco mint tea.

And then, very quickly, we start our descent into Gatwick. The crew make one last pass through the cabin with the little SWISS chocolates, and that wraps up the service. We land in Gatwick with a delay of thirty minutes.

Conclusion

This was a good flight with Helvetic Airways. It’s always nice when the whole boarding experience doesn’t feel like the invasion of the vandal hordes hellbent on ransacking Rome. While I’m generally not a fan of the Embraers, especially the E1, I really like that Helvetic/SWISS keep the adjacent seat free. Air France has started doing that too, now. I just wish KLM would follow suit.