Review: New SWISS A340 Business Class

Lucky- Are US passport holders allowed to transit through ZRH? I'm looking at an Itinerary MLE-ZRH-??? in the US. I'm not sure who to contact for transit questions.

Nice to see normal service but what's new about the product looks like the usual Vantage seat

The fact that SWISS spent the money to upgrade the interiors of the A340 is interesting. Sounds like they don't plan on retiring them anytime soon?

I also dont see anything new :s

Two lavs in business class is just unacceptable.

@ John L -- Rules can always change, but it's my understanding that US passport holders could connect if you don't have a Schengen connection. So if you're flying MLE-ZRH-US without having to enter the Schengen zone, I believe that should be fine.

@ Greg -- Indeed, it's not actually a new product for the industry, just a new product for this particular plane.

@ Greg -- Yep, they're planning on keeping them for several more years, it would seem. That does counter the industry trend.

Always very happy to fly SWISS, I’ll be on the same flight this weekend in business class. Seats tend to feel a little tight but it’s the entire experience that SWISS just get right, never been disappointed. 777 cabin is beautiful but I didn’t realize they upgraded the 340 as well, for the longest time it was two ZRH MIA flights a day, one 777 with new cabin and one flight with the old business class I think, that may have been a 330 then. Plus ZRH is a great airport. Weirdest year ever for flying transatlantic for sure. I’ve had two LH flights (great), one UA (crap although in 787 Polaris), all at maybe 20% full.

Great review. We do not get enough of these due to COVID so it's a nice return to the reports. My wife and I return to Austria for Christmas to visit family and flying SWISS business ORD-ZRH-SZG. I hope to find a equally empty cabin. Habt ihr Hochdeutsch oder "Schwizerdütsch" 😉 mit dir gesprochen?

Hey Lucky, we came back from the Bodrum EDITION yesterday (thanks to your review and recommendations), also on SWISS. I loved our flight home -- so civilized, such a pleasure to be on a tasteful airline, and what a fantasy to be on a business class flight with real service. (Our flight out in TK business class got the meal box -- it was fine since we slept the entire way). Our SWISS flight was on a 777-300ER, ZRH-JFK, but otherwise was virtually the same as yours

@John L -- yes you can transit. We tried to go to the lounge in the Schengen Zone and was denied (with US passports). But otherwise transit was fine.

I would've thought you would opt for the side by side seats traveling with Ford.

I know a lot of people give you crap for traveling now but I think that every ticket that can get ticketed and flown helps to keep the airlines in business. So I, for one, am glad that you are still getting to travel and support business. I'm curious if you are able to do it because you are picking places that you can go to, like Turkey, or if you are able to because of dual citizenship? I'd like to start planning some travel and would appreciate your thoughts.

Put your mask on !

I love the exterior of the A340 because of its bulk and length, very impressive. Have not flown business on them but looks comfortably and inviting. Glad to see a few still flying despite their higher fuel burn costs.

@Lucky - miss your TSA updates. I think people would be surprised at how many people are flying vs last year.

July - 26% (vs July 2019)
Aug - 29% (vs July 2019)
Sept - 36% (vs July 2019)

@Ben, actually I feel the seats along the right side of the airplane are much better due to foot cubby being about 250% bigger than the throne seats (of course, going west it's not really a big deal given that you won't sleep anyway). Given that you don't need a huge amount of space on both sides of your body, I normally choose the window seats though those go quickly anyway, so sometimes I have to settle for the throne seat.

Since there's not much going on right now, any way you could catch up on old reviews? There were a few where you did a 10 pictures... or something similar as a preview and then never did the full review.

Airlines should just introduce individual breadbaskets with a selection similar to what QR does.

Seating is pathetic. LH Group is getting cheaper all the time. SR is behind many carriers in their seating. Used to be the benchmark. That has long passed. Is there some German bias in your review?

Glad to see that SWISS brought the Thompson Aero Vantage product onto the A340--for a number of years, have been a regular flier of their product out of SFO (777-300). 5 A/B in the mini-cabin is a lovely pair of seats; the intimacy of the mini-cabin is also much appreciated. Definitely do agree that the lav/seat ratio (2:47, 3:62) on SWISS leaves a bit to be desired. Happy to see they still have the Duval-Leroy--was definitely part of why I didn't switch to flying LH.

I actually wonder why a 15yr old trip review is re-posted. I didn't realize Swiss was flying A340s anymore. Tgat seems so 2000s, 4 engines, gas guzzling, not Eco friendly.

I was shocked to read it is so recent.

I too love the looks of the A340 and will mourn the retirements.

Crazy times indeed.

This report was a great surprise, thanks @Ben! I forgot you hadn't posted a return trip report - thank you! It's always nice to see airlines invest in product even if they may only get a few more years of flying out of the plane. The QF 747s with the updated overhead bins and flat bed seats - they did a great job on that refurb (all in Mojave now, unfortunately). I look forward to your next trip, and given all the restrictions it will be interesting to see what the next destination is 🙂

I flew the A340 YUL > ZRH a few days ago (sadly a much shorter flight!). Very impressed with the throne seat, food, and service. As there were only two of us in the main cabin, we were allowed to take our masks off while seated so altogether it felt very much like a pre-COVID flight. All drinks and dishes were brought our personally (no cart) which made it feel very exclusive.

Hi Ben,

Regarding LifeMiles, they’re currently running a 200% mileage purchase bonus until Sept 25. I think this is the biggest promo so far available from them and it works out to USD 0.011/mile.

First, I hope your mother is doing well now!
Second, I am glad that Swiss really has not used Covid-19 as an excuse to change any service. I still don't understand how serving a boxed meal is different from serving a trayed meal. The food looked excellent, and if I need to fly back to the US from HK for any reason, I may pick Swiss now. Surprisingly LX is issuing some really good J fares between HK and US including West coast. The layover is long though!
Finally, can you share how the intra-european flights were? I wonder if Swiss is serving now from Turkey to Europe!
Thanks again!
Adrian

Ben, I love reading your reviews! Have you ever thought about featuring reviews from vision-impaired and wheelchair users on your site? I realize there are separate websites that review flights and hotels for these specific identities, but wouldn't it be great to have an inclusive website? I use a wheelchair, identify as LGBTQ+, and have traveled the world. I hate to be relegated to one site to share my experience.

The A340 is my most favourite plane of all time!! Last I flew around 20 years back in 2000. It was Srilankan. I am glad to read this review which brought back nostalgic memories of the A340. The thing I love about this plane is that it felt very spacious though being similar in size to the A330. Also I loved the sound of its twin engines and the never ending take off roll. Sad this model was discarded by many airlines for its fuel issues. I wish I get to fly it again on SWISS. Thanks for the review Ben.

Any idea if Austrian is also keeping their usual service? I need to get from Thailand to the US in December and they seem to have plenty of award space.

It’s not a new product. It’s the current Swiss product rolled out to their A340. Swiss First is good but I feel their business class packed (in non covid times). It’s a huge cabin. Little privacy apart for throne seats. Of course it’s still a good product but not comparable to 1-2-1 QSuites or Ana for instance.

These days I’m less concerned with what I eat on board and more interested in pandemic measures. Did staff wear masks the entire flight? Did they remind passengers to wear masks? Were passengers walking through cabins without masks?

Swiss First was my best flight ever. The seat was perfect and the service was above and beyond. I must say Business looks great also. So, this might be a good choice when the world opens up again.

@ Alexandra -- I realize I may have inadvertently glossed over that. Yep, the crew constantly wore masks correctly, there were no issues with other passengers, and there was limited passenger movement throughout the cabin.

@ Weymar M Osborne -- I could be mistaken, but I believe Austrian is offering a mostly full service, given that the airline is in the Lufthansa Group. However, perhaps there have been some changes to the trolley presentation.

@ Adrian -- Thanks! We flew Lufthansa from Bodrum to Munich, actually, so the meal service was very similar to the way out (which I posted pictures of in the Montreal to Munich review post). For the Germany to Switzerland flight, the typical light snack was served.

@ Peter Brown -- It's not the best business class product in the world, but a) It's cool to see an A340 get new cabins, which you don't otherwise see much b) It's better than Lufthansa's business class seating c) When a flight is this empty, there's even less need for things like doors and more private seats.

@ Tommy Boy -- Yep, virtually everyone can go to Turkey, which is why we decided to visit there. We didn't plan to visit Germany when we first departed on this trip, but given that cases were continuing to surge in Florida, and also given that my mother was there, we decided to visit her. That was only possible because I have a German passport, and Ford is my spouse.

@ David -- We've been together 24/7 for about six months, so 10 hours apart wasn't the worst thing in the world. In all honesty, Ford is a great sleeper on daytime flights, while I'm not. In that sense sitting apart was ideal, since he could sleep uninterrupted, and I could stay awake/get stuff done on my laptop without disturbing him.

I also wondered why they prefer to use the more inefficient A340. Lufthansa are also currently using their A340 fleet over their A350 which I don't get. Why not use the more efficient aircraft at this time?

Wow, 2020 bringing in the unexpected! we FINALLY got a Ben SELFIE in a review !!!!

Lest we all forget fuel is CHEAP. At the end of the day it’s all about the $$$. Save 3, 5, 10, 15% annually on new gen engines they said. No one thought a barrel of oil would drop below $40.....

Thanks, Ben, for this review. Not a fan of Swiss here, inspite of being a Swiss citizen. I'm happy to see that Swiss is providing an excellent service.

We (as a large corporate) are still waiting for the reimbursement of many tickets, in particular high value ones. It seems that Swissfinally reimbursed the cheap shorthaul tickets, after about 5 months, but is dragging its feet when it comes to long haul Business class tickets 🙁

And you realy need to wear a mask, even if you are alone?! Sorry, that is so stupid. LOL Wake up guys!

"you really need to wear a mask, even if you are alone." Any scientific or rational basis for that command other than your sense of authority? Who is the "stupid" one here?

I was booked on LX40 in early Dec. until today, when Aeroplan, out of the blue, send me a new itinerary on Air Canada. Checking SWISS' website, seems like LAX is no longer served by SWISS. Please say this is temporary!! Ben, do you know what is going on at SWISS?

I did not realise that SWISS Cabin Managers could 'Belittle' staff in *Front* of passengers.

What an embarrasing lack of professionalism from this Cabin Manager and how that may indeed, affect the poor staff member only doing her job.

I hope SWISS Management take action on this issue. Bullying by Managers is not acceptable.

Also you didn't communicate in your article, how you dealt with this issue?

Great review. Love flying Swiss Business and who doesn't love BDE gates?

Relax, lady. He didn't say anything about her tone or delivery. Why do you just jump to the assumption that she was bullying or belittling. That's not how I envisioned that interaction at all.

Thank you so much for the wonderful review. This upcoming September 2024 I will be traveling to Switzerland my lifelong dream. I am so excited! Thanks so much. Lorie

Thanks. I wish you'd shown a seat in lie flat position. That's all I really care about.

I just realized this is an old, recycled articles. So the retrofits aren't new after all. I'm curious what you "updated" in the article in Dec 2023.