Swiss Boeing 777-300ER Cabins & Routes Announced

How is Tel Aviv one of SWISS’s farthest destinations? It must be 4-5 hrs from ZRH, no?

Looks like a great and very classy product! However, I recently flew SWISS (Zurich to Bangkok) and I was not impressed at all with their current business class product: http://wp.me/p4d1XU-gHX

Boxy, yet attractive. I like the sliding panel on the first class compartment.

Wow, those video screens in First Class look enormous, and I really like that the seats are now fully enclosed suites. The cabin seems really private.

Is the 777-300ER considerably more fuel efficient than the -200?

What I find interesting is how inconsistent the new business seats will be. They're going to have:

(a) "Throne" seats along both sides with dual consoles and aisle access
(b) "Mini-throne" seats in the centre block with 1 single + 1 shared console and aisle access
(c) Exposed seats in the centre and side blocks with only a shared console but aisle access
(d) Window seats in the side blocks with only a shared console and no aisle access

That's quite a difference in hard product depending on which position you choose. I wouldn't be a happy customer if I got crammed into the small centre seat while my neighbour enjoys a spacious mini-throne with all that extra storage.

The other thing I find interesting is the routes they've announced. If the point of getting the 777 is to reduce fuel costs, you'd think replacing the A340 on long routes like SIN would be the priority. ZRH-SIN and ZRH-HKG are also premium-heavy routes with competition from top-tier carriers, so offering a decent product should be a priority. ZRH-SFO, on the other hand, is a monopoly route and could tolerate the old A340 better.

It's not like us with milez will ever be able to flyz it.

@Lantean TLV is actually a strong C market for Swiss (they don't even sell F on the route only M&M elites can choose them at the airport). They are among the only airlines to operate long-haul aircraft & cabins (vs others who use intra-europe ones) so it def makes sense to deploy it there sometimes, esp. when demand is high around holidays. I took the 5am TLV-ZRH flight a couple of months ago and C was completely full.

It seems nice. How would you go about booking J class with, say, Air Canada miles? What are the patterns with Swiss releasing business class seats? I think Travis wrote about his friend Boston Bob getting 5 award seats, so presumably there's a way to get award seats with some notice.

Lantean, for as long as i can remember, Swiss has always deployed wide body aircraft on their Tel Aviv flights. Back in the 70's & '80s plying the route with their DC-10-30's, then MD-11's and ultimately their A340 & 330. SWISS has a lot of transit traffic in ZRH to and from Tel Aviv. Its actually a 3:45 hrs flight.

Anyone happen to notice the discrete doors in the back of first class, closing off first class from the rest of the aircraft ? I guess no more sneaking into the F Class lavatory for the biz class pass seated in the min cabin behind First.

Do they have any 5th freedom routes that we can afford to pay for in First Class?

The overview of the Business class cabin has the aesthetics of a 1990's call centre, continuing the dated
austere office look!

i know we cant book first class awards. Any way to upgrade business class awards via cash or miles? Looking to spend some aero plan miles

@Arcanum - I suspect the C throne seats will be reserved for M&M elites and most of us won't get those anyway.

Since there is no way to upgrade to F, it sort of takes the shine off the whole thing, but the seats do look better in all classes.

The business class seat seems to be built on the same "bones" as ANA's Square seats with quite a lot of customization going on. Looks very nice, I always like light tones in the cabin, this one is similar in design scheme to SAS's recently revamped business class interiors too.

Not sure how they can get away with doors separating First and Business in the front cabin, I'm quite sure there is some safety requirement preventing that but if true its a very good idea. Seat itself seems quite standard for modern First class, nothing groundbreaking just comfortable.

Economy is a squeeze as long expected...although I'm very surprised at lack of Premium Eco. Not sure SWISS gets enough traffic to fill 270 seats in the back. A say 32 seat Premium Eco section with a 230-ish normal Eco makes more sense given their route profile.

Another airline goes 3-4-3 with the 777 in economy 🙁

It's getting harder and harder to avoid!

@ Upgrade -- Not on an award, as far as I know.

@ Apu -- Heh, they do have a few fifth freedom routes, though it doesn't seem like any of them are scheduled to be operated by the 777 as of now.

@ Christian -- Aeroplan is a great option, since they don't impose fuel surcharges for travel on Swiss. Swiss is rather inconsistent when it comes to releasing award space. Sometimes you'll see tons of space, sometimes very little. As a general rule of thumb, to North America you'll find the most award seats to Boston and Montreal.

@ BrooklynBoy -- Well the -300ER is longer range than the -200, and is also good for higher density markets, since it really hits a "sweet spot" in terms of capacity. Ultimately fuel efficiency depends on many factors, but it is a very versatile plane.

I guess you'll just have to pony out the $$$ for a First Class ticket like the rest of us non-Americans who can't poach our ways through signup bonuses. There are some attractive First Class fares from Scandinavia and the rest of Europe, where you can fly SWISS First Class.

Very nice update to the A340. Will be a bit nicer ride with the new F seat for those of us flying up front to California and Asia.

@Arcanum I doubt Swiss would put a 777 on ZHR-SIN for the simple reason that they probably don't get a lot of business on their flight from premium passengers because their competing with Singapore Airlines A380 which has a far superior first class (Suites) and a more premium service for all classes one could possibly compare Singapore Economy service to Swiss Business Class Service (Note it does not include the seat and food just attentiveness) I don't even know why Swiss still flies that route given they codeshare with that SQ flight and sell it when you want to buy a flight from ZHR-SIN

Lucky....this is OMAAT...we neither need nor want pictures or descriptions of Y, not on any airline or equipment 🙂

@Flyinryan~ have to disagree! Many readers wish to have a look at Y offerings, no matter how cursory! The focus remains on premium cabins which is the main interest for most. Not many would squander miles on Y seats I would agree. I think the balance is about right!

Thanks for the comparisons with its current A330/340s! I really feel that Swiss has felt short of expectation, and all cabin classes saw little innovation. They definitely adopt the motto of the Lufthansa group - how to make more money through innovation, rather than comfort through innovation? First class is still nice with that Swiss design touch. However business class is just disappointing, as they simply pretty much improve on their partner airline - Austrian Airlines' Boeing 777 business class with the five abreast seating arrangement, and the cutoff at the feet seem to be better than their current A330/340s. However, the seats look as narrow as their A330/340s. It is no longer acceptable for a first world airline to not to have direct aisle access on every business class seats, especially a luxury brand like Swiss. It goes with ten abreast in Y, but my question is can Swiss fill up a huge Y cabin like its partner, Lufthansa? I guess Swiss plans to release many cheap seats, or transition into a more hybrid leisure/business carrier. But ten abreast Y is a major turn off especially Swiss does not have a premium economy cabin to attract business travelers, who have to fly economy.
Swiss has to compete with many big names, as most airlines put their best premium products on their Zurich and Geneva flights. Even AA uses its new 767s with all direct aisle access business class on their ZRH to JFK flights. This product is still behind... Other than loyalty, I will not see people rushing to fly this 777-300ERs, especially if they are in economy.
Very disappointing!

You can still use your miles to upgrade a paid business class ticket, mind you aeroplan miles are only good for flex tickets. The current F product is still awesome, had great flights from YUL and back 2 weeks ago. I do find that SWISS should update the F lounge. Its getting dated a little.

Changes I see in F:
- No more little touch screen with the seat adjustments. Makes sense, most people where overwhelm by all the adjustments.
- Glad they are keeping the companion seat.
- Nice to have some more storage, that was an issue.
- Blinds are a nice touch.
- The table seems smaller, but I think thats just because everything else is bigger.
- Door between C and F... thats amazing.
- Glad they put a screen mesh between the seats and the outer walls, lost a few items back there 🙂
- Not sure how the table pops out, seems like you don't have to flip open the wooden arm rest anymore.

I don't understand the comments about service in business, sure service in F is great but 30% or so of my flights are in business and I always get great service. You can't seriously compare the service of AA or United with SWISS...

Question

The 777's are beautiful but swiss only ordered 9 and have 15 A340's so are they going to refit the remaining airbus planes or just leave them in the old state that they have been in. I know some are going to Swiss' subsidiary Edelweiss for leisure routes and im sure they will get updated since edelweiss doesnt have first class.

Does Swiss release many business award seats from USA to Zurich?
When do they normally release these business award seats?
Which city in the USA is best for finding award seats to Zurich?

Thank you

I got shocked when I saw their new economy cabin and decided to use miles to upgrade to business class rather than to spend 13 hours in the new economy class. It took me 65 000 LH miles and a week later they confirmed I was upgraded. It was a HKG-ZRH flight, seat 15K that is a "throne" seat. What a fab experience it was! The best seats I've ever seen. Twin C seats are also good but in a throne seat you can feel like in first class. The bed was very comfy; adjustable seat/bed softness and massage options were great! Most other airlines' biz products feel like economy compared to the Swiss new planes. That of course applies if you can get a "throne" seat. Oh yes, the food was also really good but service was pretty mediocre.

SWISS AIR is a very nice airline, I have tried the first,business and economy class,
all the classes was very good, like the emirates the last time that I talked about it you remember ya.This is the best airlines in the history and the world (EMIRATES B777-300 and SWISS AIR B777-300er!!!!!!).

Hi, I want to know which airline is better between this two (Lufthansa) .VS. (SWISSAIR) !!!!!, can any one of you answer me in a comment or a review about it please !!!.
THANKS.