From Zurich to Copenhagen I flew in SWISS Business Class on the A320neo. It was another typical SWISS flight, which is to say another solid flight.
SWISS A320neo Business Class Review
SWISS Business Class has not changed in years, at at least on shorthaul flights, and I like that way. No, you won’t get a plush business class seat on an intra-Europe flight, but you can always count on friendly service and a delicious meal onboard.
Lounge
I checked in online the night before and proceeded from my room at the Hyatt Regency Zurich to the SWISS Alpine Lounge in 10 minutes. That gave me more time than I thought to enjoy breakfast prior to my flight. Lounge access is included with business class tickets, regardless of status.
> Read More: SWISS Alpine Lounge Zurich Review
It was still dark when I boarded my flight, which was fairly full.
SWISS 1266
Zurich (ZRH) – Copenhagen (CPH)
Monday, October 23
Depart: 07:00 AM
Arrive: 08:45 AM
Duration: 1hr, 45min
Distance: 642 miles
Aircraft: Airbus A320neo
Seat: 2C (Business Class)
Onboard my A320neo, a bottle of water and two “refreshing tissues” were waiting at my seat. No there pre-departure beverages were offered to the business class cabin.
Seats
Seats are Recaro slimline, in a 3-3- configuration, but covered in leather and seem a bit more padded than on Lufthansa. Legroom is 32 inches in the first few rows (business class is variable – the curtain can be moved back and forth based upon the flight load in business class), so sit as close to the front as possible. While blocked middles are guaranteed to business class passengers (that epitomizes European business class, at least on short haul fleets), you are sitting in an economy seat.
Seats includes mesh pocked, tray table, and upper literature pocket. Seats recline, albeit ever so slightly.
It appears that power ports may be coming, but the ports (or place for the ports) was covered by a black plate.
Food + Drinks
Shortly after takeoff, flight attendants sprang to action, offering meal service, including a breakfast tray with choice of hot bread and beverage. There was no choice for the breakfast itself, but the tray included a number of nibbles including:
- bircher muesli topped in berries
- Cheese (gouda and brie)
- Meat (ham and bresaola)
- Hardboiled egg sprinkled with chives
Throw in a hot croissant (bread rolls were also available for those who wanted to make sandwiches with the meat and cheese) as well as a glass of orange juice and a strong cup of coffee and you really have a nice breakfast to help pass time on the flight.
SWISS-branded chocolates were offered prior to landing:
IFE + Wi-Fi
Disappointingly, this flight had no wi-fi available, though with a flight time of under two hours it was not a deal-breaker. Screens flip down from the consoles above and showcase a moving fight map.
Service
Little things always make a difference. Like noticing when glasses or cups are empty. Having already had my morning allotment of coffee in the Alpine Lounge, I just had one more cup with breakfast, but was offered refills multiple times and proactively offered a glass of water after breakfast when I declined another coffee.
It’s such a small touch, but makes a huge difference when evaluating service on a flight.
Lavatory
There’s a dedicated business class lavatory in the front of the aircraft which was stocked with herbal lotion and face spray from Soeder.
CONCLUSION
We landed a bit late in Copenhagen due to congestion around CPH but that still left plenty of time for my connection to the Faroe Islands.
SWISS is reliable on intra-Europe flights and while power ports and wi-fi would have been nice, I enjoyed friendly service and a nice breakfast on the short A320 business class flight from ZRH-CPH.
Next stop: SAS Lounge
I personally prefer Euro J over US domestic F. From my experiences so far with LX, LH, AF, and KL in Euro J, which I fly regularly, they offer a more proactive service and most of the time, my cup is never empty and the FAs are a lot more amicable compared to their US counterparts. Sure, the meals are often a bit lacking (especially AF/KL) and Euro J is just a Y seat, but I usually fill up in the lounge before short haul flights anyway.
Since I don’t need a whole lot of “proactive service” in shorter, narrow body flights, I’d take the bigger seat with live TV (Delta) over any other Euro J, 95% of the time.
The meals are a bit lacking? At least you get something over there besides a Biscoff!!!
My goodness, that was a generous breakfast, I only got quarter of an egg on the ZRH-LHR service this week at breakfast time.
LH group really needs to get their act together with Wi-Fi and charging ports. It’s beyond decade old technology at this point.
Agreed.
Wifi took far longer to become mainstream in Europe. At least with my experience, with the exception of Norwegian, wifi only began becoming commonplace on inter european flights around 2017-18.
Perfect timing, just booked this for next month. Do you think row 1 is the best?
Love this airline,and Zurich airport too.,Don’t know if they had a surplus of transatlantic meals or what,but was served a regional Engadine meal Ath-Zrh,quite a surprise after the alpo KLM served out of Ams to Ath.Seats were roomy,not boxed in like BA club Europe.Service was nice too.