A Swiss A340 taking off. Photo / Creative Commons
Michael Flyger flies Zurich, Switzerland to Shanghai, China on SwissAir.
The plane: One of Swiss' Airbus A340-300s — their longhaul workhorse.
Class: Business
Price: I booked as part of a larger itinerary, so mine was much cheaper — but according to the Swiss website, a return flight from Zurich to Shanghai will set you back a healthy NZ$3400.
Flight time: Doors closed bang on 13:00 and we pushed back a couple of minutes later.
It's a 12-hour flight and we landed just before 8am Shanghai time.
My seat: 10K, with the 1-2-1 layout giving me direct aisle access and a handy little table.
Swiss' old hard product is showing its age, but it was comfortable and folded down to a decent-sized flat bed. They're gradually retrofitting their A330s with a new layout, which is already in operation on their 777-300 fleet. Seeing two engines out the window and the little Swiss flag on the winglet never gets old.
Fellow passengers: Mostly Europeans heading east, with a boisterous group of 40-ish British blokes — seems a long way to go for a stag do!
How full: Only a couple of spare seats in Business.
Entertainment: Pretty dated, especially compared to the modern IFE on Air NZ. The screens are small and low-res, and controlled by the old-style remotes rather than touch screens. There was a good range of documentaries, including a great three-part series on the Gotthard Base Tunnel (engineering nerd alert!)
The service: Typically Swiss — businesslike and efficient, not too many smiles or general chitchat. There was a hint of disapproval when I asked for a second Champagne — "No water?" Onboard kits are by Victorinox and include everything you'd expect, plus a natty tablet case made from recycled plastic bottles.
Food and drink: The "Taste of Switzerland" menu sampled hard cheese, cured meat and delicious chocolates from the canton of Jura, with more traditional meat, fish and vege options to follow. Good selection of drinks, including Swiss digestifs.
The toilets: Clean and well-maintained throughout, though you'd be hard-pressed to swing a hamster, let alone a cat.
Luggage: Chocolate and cuckoo clock fiends can check a monster total of 64kg (2x32kg). I used less than half that, and none at all on clocks.
The airport experience: Zurich's Kloten airport is Swiss' home port and has all you'd expect from a major European hub, including a great rooftop viewing area.
The bottom line: Would I fly this again? On a retro-fitted aircraft, sure. But for that kind of money, there's plenty of better options to get from Zurich to halfway home.
Why drive when you can take a 228-guest discovery yacht?