I have a huge interest in spas either as a destination in their own right, or as part of a normal vacation, so I booked to visit the Bürgenstock Resort at Lake Lucerne then I looked to see how best to get there. There was a decent choice of daily direct flights with SWISS Air (albeit operated by Edelweiss Air), or alternatively some indirect options too. The flight times suited for the direct, taking just 2hr 15mins between Edinburgh and Zurich, and the same on the return. There was an early morning flight on the outbound, getting me to Switzerland for lunchtime, then a later afternoon flight on the return.

I will write about all aspects of the flights and give me views as to what I’ve thought about SWISS Air / Edelweiss Air. I’m covering both flights here (to Zurich WK 311 and the return back to Edinburgh WK310) so when I focus on the return this will be in italics to differentiate.

Index

1. Pre-trip / Booking

2. Departure

3. Airport Lounges

4. Boarding the Flight

5. In Flight

   1. Welcome

   2. The Seat

   3. Food and Drink

   4. IFE (In Flight Entertainment)

   5. On Board WiFi

6. ThePrivateTraveller’s absolute highlights

7. ThePrivateTraveller’s top tips (any areas for improvement?)

8. Would I fly SWISS Air / Edelweiss Air again?

9. My Final Thoughts on the Flight

Pre-trip & Booking

It was so easy to find and book on the SWISS Air website, although as I mentioned above the flights are operated by Edelweiss Air. There was the option of business class, being the first four rows, thereafter thirty-four rows of economy on this Airbus A320 Neo aircraft. When I did some research on Edelweiss, I discovered they were founded in 1995 but since 2008 have become a sister company of SWISS, part of the Lufthansa Group which explains, when I came to check in online, why it was a Lufthansa process and I ended up with a Lufthansa boarding pass.

Having the SWISS app, I was able to keep track of the flights, and indeed changed my front row aisle seat (in business, all the middle seats are blocked) to a window thinking I would get some good aircraft photographs across the Alps.

Online check in was available 23 hours before departure, and it was easy to complete this process online getting a text link which allowed me to download the final boarding pass to add it into Wallet on my iPhone.

On my return, check in was as simple, but this time it came through as a SWISS branded pass to download.

Departure

Edinburgh boarding was simple, arriving at the airport about an hour before departure, I was able to whizz through the fast track security desk, albeit I’m not sure what ever happened to the new area with brand new security machines which appeared just at the onset of Covid, and the area never seems to have been used since. It does look at the moment as if work is being done in that area, it would be good for there to be a dedicated fast track security from end to end.

Fast track at Zurich was far more impressive than Edinburgh, there were dedicated scanners for First & Business, and the same at security when there were two separate lanes again for the premium customers.

There were however crazy long queues going through Border Control on entry to D gates. I should (with hindsight) have gone through Border Control before the lounge - there was another at SWISS Air lounge in the D zone. I don't know about Swiss efficiency, which is normally evident everywhere, bar (except it seemed) immigration or border control both on arriving and departing. There was a massive queue on arrival in Zurich which seemed to take an eternity to get through (very few desks open) and it was the same on departure. Out of eight possible desks, only two were staffed. 

Airport Lounges

Having checked that there was no (SWISS) airline lounge facility at Edinburgh, other than I would have been able to use the Aspire Lounge with the business class ticket, I didn’t bother visiting as it’s not my favourite lounge and decided to just go straight to the boarding gate. The ticket did include Priority Boarding and therefore the ability to use the Fast Track departure queue at the airport.

At Zurich though, it was a completely different situation and there were at least two lounges at Zone A (albeit I then found my flight was departing from Zone D). On the left there was the SWISS Business lounge and on the right the Senator Lounge. I assumed I was the Business one and went left, getting access easily. Although there was a small downstairs area, I assume the bulk of the upper ground floor would have been taken up by the Senator lounge.  Upstairs, the (Business) lounge area was vast. 

There was a large dining/seated area and a food station (again large) with a selection of hot foods and seemed to be things to order too, then a large square with all sorts of hot, cold and alcoholic drinks. I’ve never seen so many bottles of white and rose (non-alcoholic) sparkling, with lesser bottles of sparkling prosecco. There were also soft drinks on tap, along with a choice of a couple of tap beers too. A salad bar completed the choice and a good selection of breads, but the piece de resistance was a section filled with jars of SWISS (Air) chocolate, Haribo-style gummy bears and sugared rings. There was also a Movenpick freezer filled with Cornettos.

On departure, I then realised there were yet more areas in this lounge - there was another (more relaxed) seating area on the first floor, but above again on a second floor was what was described as a quiet zone. Toilets were new and very white stark functional Swiss, but exceptionally clean with both a nice hand wash and lotion. 

Boarding

With the flight due to depart at 08:45am, the departure board showed that the gate would be shared at 7:45am, which was announced exactly on time. Gate 11 was nearby and showing the appropriate signage for the Edelweiss flight, with a branded SWISS Air Airbus A320 Neo already sitting at the gate. Boarding was scheduled to start at 08:15am, but it was a few minutes before when an announcement was made that anyone with children or who needed to board first could start, including business class passengers. Unlike British Airways where there are chaotic queues as soon as a boarding gate is announced, there was no queue and I was able to enter the boarding area as the first passenger. I just had to wait a few minutes for a wheelchaired passenger to arrive and board, but by 8:30am all passengers had boarded and the flight was ready to depart.

On the return flight, boarding was announced at 15:35 (for the 16:05 flight) from gate D31. Boarding here was a bit more crazy and delayed - the airport was so hot, and there was a very odd process of having to get a passport and boarding pass check at mobile ‘desks’ for everyone. I was then given a blank paper boarding pass with a blue stamp on it. The priority queue was all muddled up, but boarding business class passengers did get to board first. 

In Flight

We were boarding from gate 11 in Edinburgh, and from gate D31 in Zurich.

I’ve broken down the key components of the flight and services offered, sharing my opinion on them below:

Welcome

Pleasant interaction at the gate and welcome on board, and being in the front row (1F window) I was able to get my hand luggage stored easily above and seated within just a few minutes. All the crew were very professional and friendly.

It was announced that the flight time would be just 1hr 50min, a bit shorter than the scheduled 2hr 15mins which I assume always includes the taxi and landing. Although the flight was ready to go, air traffic had given a slot 10 minutes away, so we did have to sit on the runway just for a little while. The flight distance was due to be 775 miles or 1,248km. The aircraft was only a year old, which I always like to find out the details on Flight Radar 24.

Just before taking off, the cabin crew came round and gave all business class passengers a small bottle of mineral water and a refreshing tissue in a sachet.

On the return, I had to wait again at the aircraft door to board, and there seemed to be no air conditioning in the air tunnel and it was unbelievably hot. On the middle seat in business class were two min bottles of water and an Edelweiss towelette. My ‘middle’ seat only had one and thankfully no one sat in 1C. It was very obvious that this was a different aircraft (Edelweiss v SWISS but also in its age too).

The Seat

Very clean and functional, this was just a basic economy set up with the middle seats unoccupied to signify business class. There didn’t seem to be any in-seat power, and wasn’t overly comfortable but they were new and in brown leather with a subtle red stitching. 

The return aircraft was a complete contrast to the outbound - rather than just being a year old, the (Edelweiss branded this time) was a 21 year old Airbus A320, and it showed. Although the seats were clean, they were a very dated blue colour, but despite their age actually not much less comfortable than the newer (outbound) Swiss aircraft, and those seats weren’t comfortable either.

Food & Drink

I hadn’t actually appreciated that there was the option of requesting a vegetarian meal for the flight, as there was nothing at all obvious when booking, or when managing my booking/checking in on the SWISS app. However, when the meal was served (looked like primarily cheese and meat) and I asked for a vegetarian option, I was told there wasn’t any and I should have reserved. I was given a drink though and a couple of bags of salted snacks.

When I was in Switzerland, I did go into the booking to see if there was anything I’d missed, but couldn't find anything to do with requesting a meal. There was information online about this, but again it seemed to just show what types of meal were available as opposed to actually allowing you to book anything. I also gave up on the ‘live chat’ as this was just automated only and was no help whatsoever. I also found it difficult to get any email, and if you tried to contact them by WhatsApp I was advised that I had to be a premium member and pay (WhatsApp) I think something like a £140 subscription.

On the point of giving up, I messaged them through Instagram and got a very quick, helpful response, advising that I could one. With a bit of toing and froing, I established that they weren’t actually booking it for me, but in fact just gave me a link to book myself. By the time we’d got to this point, unfortunately I was getting an error that there wasn’t 72 hours before my flight and therefore I couldn’t book online. Going back to the helpful IG agent though, they booked one for me and indeed it then did show on my booking thereafter, i just need to see now if it is actually on board. This is the link in case any vegetarians (or people with other dietary requirements) find they get into this same loop.

https://www.swiss.com/ch/en/fly/on-board/food-and-beverage

On the return flight, the meal I’d requested, albeit within their 72 hour period, was indeed there. Not long after taking off, which was about an hour delayed, we were first served a small dish of puffed snacks, followed very soon after with my lacto-vegetarian meal. It was grilled tofu (something which, sorry to say, I absolutely detest) but it also came with saffron rice with peas (cold) and a side dish of couscous. There was also a small bowl of chopped mixed fruit.

Warmed bread was served separately with Swiss butter, and then a second serving came later - this was absolutely delicious, especially with the extra of a little more salt, which I know is bad! The crew then gave everyone the offer of a glass of champagne, followed by a choice of other drinks. There was a full selection, I had a G&T and they were also proffering tea and coffee or water too. They were very generous with drinks, and checked a couple of times whether a passenger wanted anything else. Really good service, and once things were cleared away they also came with small packets of soft gingerbread, unfortunately no SWISS Air chocolates this time!

IFE (In Flight Entertainment)

There was nothing on the outbound flight, albeit there were flip down small screens from the ceiling showing flights stats and a moving map. On such a short flight though it didn’t really matter.

On the return though, very odd with the age comparison of the two planes, there was signage for an entertainment system by connecting to the plane’s WiFi. It was easy to connect on my phone, and actually there was a full selection of films, music, as well as being able to AIrshow for the live flight stats. There was quite a good selection of movies from classics to more modern blockbusters, as well as TV programmes like documentaries, comedies and for kids.

On Board Wi-Fi

This was no WiFi on the outbound, which was surprising considering the newness of the aircraft, but there was on the return, 20 years its senior albeit just internally to be able to access the entertainment system. No internet connection was available though. 

The Private Traveller’s Absolute Highlights

There was a lot going for these SWISS / Edelweiss Air flights, here are just a few of them:

• Booking was simple and straightforward, decent flight times and good to have the option of business class

• Outbound time spot on time, just a pity such long immigration queues at Zurich airport

• Hard to get a vegetarian meal reserved, but the agent on Instagram was responsive and helpful

• The crew member serving the drinks and meals on the return flight was excellent, great on board service

• Liked the newness of the outbound aircraft (SWISS branded) albeit the seats weren’t particularly comfortable. Toilets were very modern.

• The SWISS branded chocolate bars served on landing in Zurich was absolutely delicious.

The Private Traveller’s Top Tips (Areas for improvement)

Whenever I take a flight, I do always like to look on the positives on the airlines we fly with etc. but sometimes you can’t help but notice things that (for me, but I realise this is always personal) might have made for a better trip. If I am aware of anything, I will share them here.

• It could be made much easier to request a vegetarian meal at the time of booking, or to add this onto the booking through ‘Manage My Booking’ on the app.

• Boarding at Zurich could have been much better organised, as could (I realise nothing to do with airline) would be more staff at Border Control or allowing UK passport holders to use the automated machines.

Would I fly SWISS/Edelweiss again?

Yes, definitely and I’m already looking into booking another trip back to Switzerland. SWISS/Edelweiss would definitely be a serious contender, and a good alternative to our normal choice which would be British Airways, but would involve two flights and a change in London.

My final thoughts on the flight

A couple of quirks, and the issues with Border Control queues at Zurich need addressed, but overall a very good experience and one to be repeated.

I hope this review has been helpful, if so please like and comment or let me know if you think this is either too detailed, just right, or not detailed enough! Also, let me know what you think of my other airlines reviews.

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