I feel this is kind of what we have been anticipating, however it’s good to get it confirmed anyway.
SWISS’ plans for brand spanking new premium cabins
As reported by Govt Traveller, SWISS intends to launch a brand new first and enterprise class product in 2025. The merchandise that the airline is deciding on ought to look acquainted. Since SWISS is a part of Lufthansa Group, the airline can be adopting Lufthansa’s new premium merchandise.
You may count on that Lufthansa’s new top quality suite may even make its option to SWISS. The seats to have the identical “bones,” although the finishes will replicate SWISS’ branding. We’ve got cause to consider that this can be a reasonably epic product, hopefully largely pretty much as good as Emirates’ new top quality.
In the meantime Lufthansa’s new enterprise class may even be launched on SWISS. Every seat will function direct aisle entry, and you may count on some “enterprise class plus” seats within the first row, to benefit from area that may in any other case be wasted. As soon as once more, the finishes can be a bit completely different than on Lufthansa, reflecting SWISS’ branding.
Admittedly SWISS isn’t fairly as in want of latest premium merchandise as Lufthansa is. SWISS already has fairly good top quality suites, plus staggered seats in enterprise class.
Precise particulars relating to SWISS’ plans are nonetheless restricted, although the airline plans to share extra info in 2023. It makes excellent sense for Lufthansa Group to align merchandise between airways, when it comes to passenger expertise, upkeep, buying prices, and so on.
Which planes will get SWISS’ new premium cabins?
For context, SWISS’ lengthy haul fleet at the moment consists of the next planes:
- 12 Boeing 777-300ERs
- 14 Airbus A330-300s
- 5 Airbus A340-300s
SWISS has no plans to retire its 777s or A330s, although the present plan is to retire A340s as of 2025. Though Lufthansa is introducing its new premium merchandise in 2023, this explains why SWISS is just introducing these new cabins in 2025 — it’s as a result of that’s when the airline is subsequent taking supply of latest lengthy haul jets.
SWISS plans to introduce these new cabins on newly delivered jets, and we don’t but know if current jets will get these cabins.
What additionally stays to be seen is which lengthy haul jets SWISS will take supply of. Lufthansa Group has Airbus A350-900s, Boeing 787-9s, and Boeing 777-9s on order. Whereas we all know that the 777-9s are solely headed to Lufthansa, the opposite varieties of jets may very well be headed to a mix of Austrian, Lufthansa, and SWISS.
If I needed to guess, I feel it’s almost definitely that SWISS solely will get A350s and never 787s. That’s as a result of SWISS will keep top quality all through its lengthy haul fleet, and Lufthansa has solely introduced plans to put in top quality on A350s, and never 787s. So logically it will take advantage of sense if Austrian and Lufthansa take all of the 787s, whereas Lufthansa and SWISS take all of the A350s.
I may very well be flawed, however that’s what is smart to me…
Backside line
SWISS plans to introduce a brand new first and enterprise class product in 2025. This product ought to largely match the brand new cabins that Lufthansa has unveiled, besides with SWISS branding.
The logic for the timeline is that SWISS is predicted to take supply of latest lengthy haul plane as of 2025, when the airline retires its A340s. Whereas we don’t formally know which planes SWISS will get, it appears extra more likely to me that SWISS will solely get A350s, relatively than 787s.
What do you make of SWISS’ new premium cabin plans?
