In late 2022, SWISS formally announced that it would add Airbus A350s to its fleet. There’s now an update, as the airline has announced more details of when it will start to take delivery of these jets, and what the first destinations will be.
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SWISS adding at least 10 Airbus A350s to fleet
SWISS’ long haul fleet currently consists of Boeing 777-300ERs, Airbus A330-300s, and Airbus A340-300s. SWISS belongs to Lufthansa Group, and the overall airline group places aircraft orders centrally, and then allocates planes accordingly.
Lufthansa Group has dozens of Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 787-9s on order, and these will be split between Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian. What we know for sure is that SWISS will take delivery of 10 Airbus A350-900s — the first five should be delivered between the fall of 2025 and the end of 2027, while the other five should be delivered by the end of 2031. So that’s quite a slow delivery timeline, with an average of under two new jets per year.
The first batch of A350s will be used to replace the carrier’s fleet of four Airbus A340-300s. Meanwhile the remaining A350s will be used to replace SWISS’ oldest Airbus A330-300s. Both the Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 777-300ERs have a long term place in SWISS’ fleet, so for the A330s, it’ll only be a partial fleet replacement. The A350 is an incredible aircraft, with huge range, excellent economics, and great passenger comfort.
For context on the rest of the Lufthansa Group fleet, the plan is for Austrian to take delivery of Boeing 787s, and for Lufthansa to take delivery of both Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s. A lot more A350s could be coming SWISS’ way in the future, beyond the current 10. Not all of the Lufthansa Group A350s have been allocated yet.
SWISS has a cool video that it published about the A350 joining its fleet, which is well done. There’s more to the video than meets the eyes, with lots of hidden clues. For example, the alarm goes off at 3:40AM, which I have to imagine is a reference to the A340.
Here’s what SWISS CEO Jens Fehlinger had to say about this order:
“Our new Airbus A350s will make our fleet even more modern. This is a major investment, and a vital one to ensure that we continue to meet our customers’ high expectations. With these advanced twinjets and their innovative cabins, we’re bringing our long-haul aircraft fleet up to a totally new level of modernity, sustainability and inflight comfort for our guests.”
SWISS taking delivery of first Airbus A350 in October 2025
We’re now just several weeks from SWISS taking delivery of its first Airbus A350-900. The first of these aircraft is expected to be delivered to the airline in October 2025. Initially, the A350 is expected to operate on some intra-Europe flights, for crew familiarization. The details of the exact routes and dates haven’t yet been announced.
Then the A350 is anticipated to make its long haul debut by January 1, 2026, flying between Zurich (ZRH) and Boston (BOS). It’s possible that timeline gets pushed forward, but that’s intended to be a conservative timeline as of now. Boston makes sense as the first destination, since it’s possible to operate the route daily with a single frame.
A350s will feature new SWISS Senses cabins
The Lufthansa Group is in the process of overhauling its cabins. Lufthansa has its new Allegris cabins, which include a new first class and new business class. SWISS will also be introducing new cabin interiors, which will be known as SWISS Senses.
This is essentially the same product that Lufthansa is introducing, except it will feature SWISS branding. So you can expect SWISS to introduce a new first class product, featuring a door at each seat, plus a (strange) double suite in the center.
This also includes a new business class product, featuring a staggered configuration that’s highly customized. Yes, this is the same product that Lufthansa announced all the way back in 2017.
This new product will be a great improvement over SWISS’ current inflight products. These new seats should also eventually be installed on other SWISS long haul aircraft, though the exact timeline for that remains to be seen.
SWISS A350s will have 242 seats in four cabins
When it comes to the layout, SWISS’ Airbus A350s are expected to feature 242 seats, including:
- Three first class seats (with the center seat being able to accommodate two people)
- 45 business class seats
- 38 premium economy seats
- 156 economy seats
SWISS highlights a couple of key points about this configuration. First of all, the premium economy cabin is considerably larger than on any other long haul aircraft in the SWISS fleet. Second of all, SWISS will be the only airline in the world to continue having first class on all long haul aircraft.
Now, there are a few things that sort of surprise me here, or at a minimum, that I find noteworthy:
- SWISS has long highlighted the amount of first class demand it has, and the airline has eight first class seats on all long haul aircraft; I’m a bit disappointed that SWISS didn’t choose to introduce two rows of first class, but is just installing one row, like on Lufthansa, as this represents a 50-62% reduction in first class capacity
- There are only two lavatories for 45 business class seats, which is a pretty awful passenger to lavatory ratio for a premium cabin
- It’s interesting how there are two rows of economy in front of the third set of doors, behind premium economy; it sure would be nice if airlines made premium economy a bit more exclusive by offering separate lavatories, rather than making people walk back to the regular economy cabin
- All-in-all, this is quite a premium layout with fairly few seats, as most airlines have closer to 300 seats on A350-900s
Bottom line
SWISS will be taking delivery of at least 10 Airbus A350s between the fall of 2025 and the end of 2031. The first plane is expected to be delivered in October 2025, and Boston will be the first long haul destination, with flights launching by January 2026.
These planes are part of the overall order that Lufthansa Group has placed for the A350, and the intent is that the first batch of jets to replace SWISS’ current A340s.
These planes will feature the new SWISS Senses cabins, including the carrier’s new first and business class. We also now know that the airline will have 242 seats on these planes, with only one row of first class, and quite a big business class and premium economy cabin.
What do you make of SWISS’ plans to fly Airbus A350s?
It is only marginally better and only if you are travelling alone. For couples the current configuration is much better.
For families traveling together the current seats are better
When do the LX A330s with a 3000lb deadweight in the back enter service?
@Tony
That 3000lb deadweight is the result of the overweight Allegris seats which took 8 years to design.
You’d possibly have a better experience in the last row of economy on this aircraft than American Airlines swanky new business class.
SWISS also took delivery of solar fuel. The world’s first jet fuel that is converted from sunlight into synthetic fuel.
In other news: Air Niugini's first A220 will be delivered sometime during the next 8 weeks.
I booked a client several months ago on the BOS-ZRH route for the festive period and interestingly it was showing the new product in Sabre (I could tell since it was only 3 first class seats). Then weeks later (after ticketing) it reverted back to the old product. It's now switched back and forth 4 times. I've told them there's a chance it's the new one but we'll just have to see... But it sounds...
I booked a client several months ago on the BOS-ZRH route for the festive period and interestingly it was showing the new product in Sabre (I could tell since it was only 3 first class seats). Then weeks later (after ticketing) it reverted back to the old product. It's now switched back and forth 4 times. I've told them there's a chance it's the new one but we'll just have to see... But it sounds like it's more official now. Was just funny to see as I had never seen so many product changes in the GDS before like that.
Swiss business class on their 330 only had two lavatories and the 350 will still have two lavatories.
Lufthansa by any other name is still Lufthansa. Siege heil.
Do any airlines currently offer premium-economy only bathrooms?
Cathay has bathrooms that can be seen as PE exclusive in some 777 configs and the 350-1000. They are however only really accssible from the right aisle and weirdly placed in the middle of the cabin in general.
SQ on their A350-900ULR
@Eskimo
Not a helpful comment.
Aaron, the comment from Eskimo, as far as I can recall, is absolutely correct.
The SQ A350-900ULR is only configured with Business and Premium Economy seats.