SWISS and Air France operate four daily returns each between Zürich Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. In addition, there are six daily departures by train from Zürich Hauptbahnhof to Paris Gare de Lyon in the heart of the French capital.

Getting to the Airport

This afternoon I have a thesis defence to attend as the external reviewer. By the time we’re done and the candidate’s final grade has been decided, it’s already coming up to 16h00. I’m cutting it finer than I normally would, but I didn’t really have much choice this time. At 16h03, the Eurocity train from Munich pulls into Winterthur station. Normally, this is an alighting stop only, meaning that the Eurocity doesn’t normally board passengers here heading into Zürich. But the 16h01 has been cancelled, and so passengers are allowed, exceptionally, to take the Eurocity. Alas, it’s standing room only, but at least it’s only about twelve minutes from here to the airport.

Check-In

I arrive at the airport at 16h18. I have one hour before my flight leaves to Paris. Zürich is turning into more and more of a building site. The passage way to Terminal A/Check-In 1 will remain closed for quite some time, and so all passengers have to access the terminal complex over the footbridge that connects the mall to Terminal B. Luckily for me, security is very quiet, so that I’m already through by 16h30. I’ve already checked in on the SWISS app, which still only works if I turn off my VPN, which seems a bit beside the point.

The SWISS Senator Lounge

The Senator Lounge is very busy. It’s simply too small for all the passengers that use it. Eventually, I find a place at the counter overlooking the atrium below. I know this is a terrible faux pas, but I couldn’t resist: I take a slice of Bündner Nusstorte… yes, okay fine… two slices of Bündner Nusstorte… and smother them with the warm vanilla sauce that is intended for the Strudel. God, that’s good!

While the lounge may be unpleasantly crowded, I still think my visit is worth it, if only for the entertainment that comes with picking up those priceless little nuggets of overly loud telephone conversations of the infamous lounge dwellers floating through the lounge… “okay, gut zät you tell me sis. Zen I vill make sure to humiliate him during tomorrow’s big meeting to bring us bäck on träck again…”. As the great Siobhan Fahey from Shakespeare’s Sister once said, “with friends like these, who needs enemies…?”.

Sadly, before I get to hear how the public humiliation will unfold, my flight shows up on the departure screen as boarding from gate B10. On my way to the gate I still manage to find time to take some photos of the ramp.

SWISS Boarding

My flight is boarding from gate B10, which means the aircraft is on a remote stand. The gate area is crawling with people and there’s hardly any place to sit. I wait for the first bus to leave. The flight will not be full today, I suspect, so I might as well wait for the second bus to get a much more pleasant experience… and unobstructed, unrushed views of my aircraft.

The flight to Paris today is operated by a veritable veteran, an Airbus A 320 that entered into service in 1997 with Swissair and that has stayed in Switzerland ever since.

SWISS Business Class Cabin & Seat

I just don’t get some people. Really. When I checked in online this morning, seat 1C on the aisle was empty. However, when I step aboard, there’s some woman sitting on 1C. If the flight were full, you could hardly blame her. But here’s the thing. There are nine rows of Business Class on this flight, for a total of 36 seats, of which only seven are occupied. Of all the seats to choose, did she really absolutely have to take 1C? I mean, it’s probably the worst seat in all of the Business Class cabin anyway. Fortunately, I notice that on the opposite row of three there are no packaged towels and no bottles of still water. I quickly check with the crew, who confirm that 1D and 1F will remain empty. So, I quickly grab my things, give Mrs 1C my best resting bitch face in parting, and move across. Much better!

This aircraft still has the older, ugly Business Class cabin. You know, the one with the flimsy seats and the hard shell seat back that will likely see me walking off the plane in Paris with lumbago. The seat pitch is not bad on row 1. My apologies for forgetting to take photos of the cabin and seat.

SWISS Service & Crew

There are two young ladies working the Business Class cabin. They’re both very young, but very pleasant. One of them is quite new, I think. The other, the maître de, seems much more experienced. More importantly, both of them are genuinely friendly and professional. As previously mentioned, every passenger in the forward cabin receives a packaged towel and a bottle of still water before departure.

We push back with a slight delay. However, with a flight time of only 55 minutes the crew are still expecting us to arrive slightly ahead of schedule.

We race a Maltese Airbus A 320 NEO to the holding point for runway 28. They’re actually ahead of us, but I guess being the big honcho at Zürich has some advantages, so that eventually the KM aircraft has to concede defeat and give way.

SWISS Business Class Meal – Early Dinner

The crew is released for the service very soon after we get airborne. No wonder with such a short flight time. The tray consists of a main course, a plate of cheese and a Weck glass with dessert. The main course is Bresaola with buckwheat, feta cheese, cauliflower purée and poached pear. I really, really don’t like Bresaola, but the rest of the dish is quite nice.

With the meal the crew serve bread rolls from a basket. They make several rounds and there are little tubs of butter for passengers to help themselves to in the basket. For dessert is something with a strangely fluorescent yellow colour. My momma taught me better than to stick anything in my mouth which looks like it might glow in the dark, so I think I’ll give this a pass. I notice the crew asking several other passengers if they can clear the tray or if they’ll be having the dessert…

By the time I’m done, we’re already in the descent. The crew pass through the cabin with the famous SWISS Swiss chocolates. The maître de tells me there’s still enough time for a coffee, so I ask for a coffee with milk, which has the added benefit of coming with a further piece of delectable chocolate.

SWISS Arrival in Paris

Eventually, we land in CDG five minutes ahead of schedule. The Lufthansa Group operates out of the flying saucer that is Terminal 1. Our taxi is quite short. We deplane and I make my way to arrivals which is, strangely, on the top level of the building. From there I take the lift down to the lower ground level to catch the Roissyval train to my hotel at Roissypole.

Conclusion

This was a pleasant short-haul flight with SWISS. Of course, it helped that the flight was not overly busy – at least not in the Business Class cabin. The lounge in Zürich remains a problem, but crowded lounges seem to be a general problem for most of the European carriers. Other than that, the crew on this short leg were great and very friendly. The Bresaola with the meal I could have done without, but once I put it aside, I found the rest of the meal quite nice and flavourful.