'Swiss Senses': Onboard the inaugural long-haul flight of Swiss' luxe new Airbus A350
For Swiss International Air Lines, Flight LX52 from Zurich Airport (ZRH) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) on Thursday was not just any other flight.
LX52 was the long-haul debut of the carrier's new Airbus A350-900 and Swiss Senses onboard product that, after years of work and delay, finally took place.
None of that apparently mattered to the ZRH ground crew.
After a dusting of snow shortly before departure, LX52 entered the queue with the other evening departures from ZRH for its turn to de-ice. Finally, an hour and six minutes late at 6:36 p.m. local time, Swiss' first long-haul A350 flight took to the skies over Switzerland bound for the U.S.
The A350 is the new Swiss. The plane sports a complete nose-to-tail rethink of the airline's onboard product, from first class to economy. Out are decade-plus old lie-flat seats with little semblance of privacy, and in are the new suites and seats offering a range of privacy options and features to personalize the experience.
On top of that, Swiss upgraded its soft product — the food, beverage and other elements of the passenger experience — in September in anticipation of the A350.
All of this comes at a critical time for the airline. While profits remain high, Swiss is seen by many as having slipped in quality as its product aged and it waited behind corporate sibling Lufthansa for new planes and seats.
"This product took us more years than anticipated," said Jens Fehlinger, CEO of Swiss, during an interview midflight to BOS. "Now, the pieces and puzzles, they come together."
That is, at least on the A350. A second plane is due to join the first at Swiss in December with the remaining eight on order arriving at a pace of two-a-year through the end of the decade.
Swiss' A350s will replace its older, four-engine Airbus A340s which will retire by 2027.
As for its other widebody jets — the Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 — Swiss will retrofit those planes to include its Swiss Senses cabins beginning in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Spacious and private-ish in business class
The new Swiss Senses business class is really five different seats in one. The 45-seat cabin is subdivided into eight Business Suites with Privacy, Extra Space, Classic and Extra Long Bed seats.
The Privacy Seats, where this reporter was seated, are closest to the window but without the extra-tall dividers that define the Business Suites. The seat is spacious and comfortable with more features than were immediately obvious — or expected.
Beyond the usual cubby and shelf — both located above the footwell of the seat behind — the seat really did surprise and delight. For one, the cubby featured a thoughtful hook to hang one's glasses. There were both tactile and digital controls, the latter on a tablet-like interface on the side of the cubby, to adjust the seat. And, unexpectedly, it featured heating and cooling to further personalize the inflight experience.
For devices, there is a standard power outlet as well as both USB-A and USB-C ports, and the shelf includes wireless charging (which worked intermittently on the inaugural flight to BOS).
An extra-long tray table extends from below the large entertainment screen with space to enjoy meals and store a medium-sized laptop.
And, speaking of entertainment, AvGeeks will enjoy the five different exterior camera views where they can watch everything going on around the A350.
One downside of the new seats, which are a Swiss version of Lufthansa's Allegris product that was first announced in 2017, is the lack of doors. These have become standard on new business classes in recent years, but due to the lengthy gestation period, are only featured in first class.
Elegant continental dining
Within an hour of takeoff, the crew on LX52 began the meal service. The new service, as described in the menu, was a "Swiss taste of Switzerland" that highlighted cuisine from both the German- and Italian-speaking regions of the country.
Award-winning Swiss chefs Tanja Grandits and Lorenzo Albrici, along with Zurich vegetarian restaurant Hiltl, designed the menu items that included marinated salmon, beet carpaccio, a curry-like chicken ragout and a pumpkin chestnut goulash.
A highlight of the new menu is the addition of a soup course; a delicious cream of celeriac with truffles was on offer on LX52.
The service flow was perhaps slower than usual for a transatlantic flight, something that Fehlinger attributed to the crew still familiarizing themselves with the new aircraft.
Swiss first began flying the A350 on Oct. 25 — and strictly on proving runs within Europe. During that, the longest flight undertaken was from ZRH to Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport (AGP) on the southern coast of Spain, only 1,000 miles — or about two hours and 45 minutes — from Switzerland.
The 3,745-mile flight from ZRH to BOS, by comparison, clocked in at seven hours and 52 minutes, according to tracking website FlightRadar24.
For the pre-arrival meal, business-class fliers had the choice of momo dumplings or a duck breast salad.
Few grand moments, many refined details
The entire A350 intercontinental inaugural was an example of Swiss' ethos: simple refinement without the ostentatious showiness of some other airlines.
Fehlinger, who sat in the last row of business class in a Classic seat, did not give a speech beyond a brief welcome at the gate before boarding. The crew complemented that with a few mentions of the notable nature of LX52 that day during their announcements.
While there was no grand moment onboard, there were many refined details. A special commemorative print edition of Swiss Magazine, the airline's inflight magazine that went digital during the COVID-19 pandemic, was in every seatback. An inaugural flight certificate and special boxes of Swiss Senses-branded chocolates were distributed to all aboard. And Fehlinger helped with a special champagne service in economy.
First- and business-class fliers also received a commemorative Caran D'Ache writing implement to mark the "first intercontinental flight of the Swiss A350-900."
Travelers can find Swiss' sole A350 — and the new Swiss Senses product — daily on the ZRH-BOS route. The second aircraft will, depending on when it arrives from Airbus, fly between ZRH and Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL).
The carrier hopes to offer Swiss Senses on all of its long-haul aircraft by the end of the decade.
How to book
Business-class tickets for the new Six Senses cabin are available to book via Swiss' website or via points on Star Alliance partner airlines like United Airlines and Air Canada.
However, there's one big caveat for the time being: Swiss is currently flying only one plane with the new cabin. For now, that means it's not in daily service on the Boston-Zurich route, so customers trying to find the plane should seek out Airbus A350-900 under aircraft type. Further, Swiss' website denotes planes with the cabin by showing "Six Senses" alongside the flight information.
Cash fares for Swiss' new product vary widely across its schedule. A Nov. 24 search showed that a Jan. 15-19 booking in the new Swiss Senses business-class cabin had fares starting at $8,077.53 round trip. Tickets in economy on the same flight began at about $900 while premium economy fares began at around $1,750.
Prices will vary throughout the calendar, depending on the season and how full the flight is. Even in business, fares typically rise as the cheaper offerings sell out.
Customers can also look for award seats via Star Alliance partners such as United and Air Canada; however, searches turned up few results given the product's limited availability in Swiss' schedules.
United showed one-way economy awards on a few dates for 44,000 miles (less for United co-branded credit card holders) from Boston to Zurich. TPG's spot check did not immediately turn up any business class fares — though perhaps that's not a surprise since Swiss has only one plane in service with the new cabin.
It was a similar story at Air Canada, which showed a smattering of one-way economy awards available for 35,000 miles via its Aeroplan program.
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