Swiss Airbus A330-300 flight from Delhi to Zurich

Swiss Business

Posted by Aayush Bhutani on Jan 15, 2019

In this post, you will find information about Lounge, Aircraft, Seat, Amenities, and Food from a recent Swiss A333 business class flight.

Lounge

Swiss does not have a lounge at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi so I was given a pass to Always lounge on the third floor which also serves Air Canada, Air France and KLM. The lounge is after security and before the gates. When I visited, it had a great selection of Indian food items - Dal Makhani, Chicken Tikka, Hara Bhara Kebab, etc.

Lounge entrance Lounge entrance Lounge entrance Lounge entrance

Aircraft

Swiss fleet consists of 14 A330-300's (A333 in short) and I managed to book a seat on one of these. There are a total of 236 seats split across three cabins - 8 First class seats, 45 Business class seats and 183 Economy class seats. The plane is powered by 2 Rolls-Royce Trent 772 enhanced performance engines - each producing over 32500 kgs/72000 pounds of thrust.

Stats Swiss a333 stats (Image source: Swiss)

Swiss has a bunch of other airbus manufactured planes but only 1 boeing manufactured - 777-300ER which is the world's best wide body twin engine jet. Swiss seems to be exceptionally good at maintaining aircrafts - the A333 I flew in was an example.

Fleet Swiss fleet

The 45 business class seats are split across 2 cabins - smaller one with 9 seats, right behind first class and bigger one with remaining 36 seats. All the seats are front facing, however, not all have aisle access. Since, the seats vary in privacy and storage space and some are reserved, picking the right one can be quite challenging.

Small business cabin Small business cabin Main Business Cabin Main business cabin with 36 seats Aircraft Swiss A333 cabin layout (Image source: Seatguru)

Seat

I got seat 4A in the small business class cabin for this 8 hour long flight. This seat often referred to as the "Throne"- is by far the best business class seat onboard Swiss A333. The reason being that it is right behind first class in the small business cabin and offers exceptional privacy thanks to the two side tables on either side.

My seat: 4A My seat: 4A

I managed to get this seat a day before the flight while checking the status. This seat was originally priced at 150 Euro/ 170 USD to reserve, however, the price was taken down 48 hours before the flight when check-in began and luckily, I happened to get it for free as no one had bought it by then.

Swiss reserves some seats for Miles and More HON Circle members and lists some for a certain price depending on how much privacy they offer. On the Swiss A333, all pairs of middle seats (6-12 D/G and 14 D/G) along with (5,7,9,11,14 A/B) and window seats with one side table on the side of the window (4,6,8,10,12 K) are available to pick at the time of booking for free irrespective of status. Seats with side table on the side of the aisle (5,7,9,11,14 K) are reserved for HON Circle members while the "Throne" seats (4,6,8,10,12 A) are available for purchase - 100 to 200 USD.

There are only 5 "Throne" seats out of a total of 45 business class seats onboard the A333 which makes them highly coveted. For people travelling alone, all single window seats are good, however, "Throne" seats and seats with two side tables are ideal. If you want slightly more privacy, I would recommend picking a seat in the smaller business class cabin.

All Swiss Business class seats offer 60" pitch and 20.5" width. I was able to get a glimpse of the First class cabin while boarding as the curtain was not drawn at that time. The seats looked huge with giant screens (83" pitch and 22" wide). I really want to try out their First class product at some point. Swiss offers first class passengers a transfer in luxurious Mercedes Benz S class at Zurich airport.

First class view View of First class cabin

The seat contols are easily accessible on the left side table. It is possible to change the firmness of the seat cushion and there is an in-built massager. I think these features are good additions to the normal seat controls. I tried using the massager but the vibrations were very mild and barely reached my body.

Seat controls Seat controls

The seat changes into a fully-flat bed but the two side tables made the space a bit congested. I liked the privacy it offered but the seat is definitely not for someone who is claustrophobic.

Fully-flat seat Time to sleep

There is a small storage space under the entertainment system which serves as both a leg rest as well as an extension of the seat when fully-flat. There is space to keep bags in front of the left side table during the flight but nothing can be kept there during takeoff, landing or taxi.

Front of seat under entertainment system Front of seat under entertainment system

I was disappointed with the blanket as it was very short in length and made out of a thin material. I requested the flight attendant for a longer blanket and got one. Swiss should definitely work on having better blankets.

On the left side of the seat above the side table, there is a reading lamp and a port. I really like the placement as the device can be put on the side table while charging.

Reading lamp and port Reading lamp and port Tray table Tray Table

Amenities

There are coat hangers kept on every seat and the idea is that the passengers can hang their jackets and put them on the hook in front of the seat which the flight attendants can later take out of the way and give back before landing. I used this service and placed my jacket on my hanger that said 4A and put it on the coat hook.

Coat hook Coat hanger with seat number

The in-flight entertainment screen looked very bright and sharp and came with the usual controller. Swiss also gave a pair of Swiss branded headphones and metal box amenity kit.

IFE In-flight entertainment system IFE controls IFE controller and seat controls Amenities Headphones and amenity kit

There are only 2 bathrooms for the all of business class passengers and they contain some extra face cleansing creams and mists since the individual amenity kits have limited stuff.

lavatory Extra stuff in lavatories

Food

The menu was already kept on the seat. While I was settling in, a flight attendant came to offer a choice of beverage - orange juice, water, or champagne. Shortly after takeoff, the real meal service began with but I was very tired so I just took the hot towel and then slept. I did look at the menu though which is written in 4 different languages.

Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu

Western choice:

  • Lamb and aubergine carpaccio
  • Kiwi tartlet

    • Indian choice:

  • Tandoori cauliflower with jalapeño salsa
  • Kheer (carrot and quinoa pudding)

    • Hot savouries:

  • Indian and Western style hot snacks
  • Beetroot and orange soup with black pepper and cheese crisps
  • Swiss chocolates

    • There is a separate card that passengers who are interested in getting breakfast can fill in. This is to ensure that the flight attendants dont wake up people who do not want to eat. I quickly filled out my choice for breakfast: smoothie, fresh fruit, omlette and coffee. A flight attendant woke me up about an hour before landing to serve breakfast. I am not sure what the smoothie was made out of but it was certainly delicious while the omlette was nothing out of the ordinary.

    Menu Breakfast card Menu Breakfast card Food Breakfast

    Overall

    I thoroughly enjoyed my 9 hour long Swiss experience onboard the A333. The crew was really impressive, the service was amazing and I was incredibly happy to land the coveted "Throne" seat in the small business class cabin that offered great privacy and comfort.

    Would I fly it again?

    Absolutely!

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