The long-haul refresh of Swiss International Air Lines is, at long last, flying.
The Star Alliance carrier debuted its new “Swiss Senses” onboard products between Zurich Airport (ZRH) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) Nov. 20. And, if all goes to plan, it will be standard onboard all of Swiss’ twin-aisle planes by the end of the decade.
Jens Fehlinger, the CEO of Swiss, sat down during the intercontinental debut to chat about what's next for the airline.
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Swiss’ long-haul product upgrade, which replaces an offering more than a decade old, remains the airline’s top priority, he said. While the inaugural marked a turning point, the carrier still needs to take delivery of its nine remaining A350s (the first few will replace four aging Airbus A340s) and refresh its fleet of 14 Airbus A330-300s and 12 Boeing 777s. That process is expected to take another four years.
"This product took us more years than anticipated," Fehlinger said. "Now, the pieces and puzzles, they come together."
This is true for many international airlines. Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa and others have all made their own new long-haul premium upgrades — many of which were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic — in the past two years. These investments recognize the constant product one-upmanship between airlines and the fact that premium revenue growth has outpaced the growth in economy travel since the pandemic.
For example, in October, Delta Air Lines president Glen Hauenstein said: "Most of our growth, if not all of it, will come in the premium sectors."
Swiss is owned by the Lufthansa Group, and Swiss Senses is a reclad variant on Lufthansa’s Allegris product that debuted in 2024.
With Swiss Senses flying, the airline can begin to turn its attention to the rest of its passenger offering.
New Schengen — or intra-Europe — and business-class lounges at ZRH are in the works; they are set to open in early 2027, Roger Geu, the head of lounges for Swiss, said in an interview on the ground in Zurich. The spaces will reflect the airline’s updated color palette, feature wood tones and maybe even include small libraries when they open.
The lounges will “temporarily” replace those set to close with the reconstruction of Dock A at ZRH, he said. By temporary, Geu said he expects the new spaces to remain in use for around a decade until the new concourse opens in 2035.
Intra-Europe flyers will be happy to hear that Swiss is considering restoring free snacks and drinks on its short- and medium-haul flights.
“During the crisis, we brought more high-quality food onboard but made that food payable,” Fehlinger said. “We will review that over the next year.”
Swiss stopped offering free snacks and drinks on European flights in 2021 citing sustainability concerns. However, the move came at a time of rising costs and lower revenues for airlines globally.
The carrier is also considering new seats for its fleet of single-aisle Airbus A220 and A320-family planes, Fehlinger added. He did not provide a potential timeline.
Another potential change — or return, rather — could be of the reading variety. Swiss printed a one-time special edition of its inflight magazine, Swiss Magazine, for the introduction of the A350. Inside were all the features that were once standard in these former seatback staples: destination recommendations, puzzles and (to every AvGeek's delight) a route map.
When asked if Swiss would resume printing the magazine that went all-digital in 2022, Fehlinger said it was “something we are considering.”
“We need customer feedback to take that decision,” he continued. “We want to know how our customers perceive it, that’s why we thought this is now a very nice, unique opportunity to bring it together with the A350. If our passengers like it, we will definitely consider to continue it, if they don’t like it we won’t.”
Printed magazines, now, are something of a symbol of luxury in a digital-first world.
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