SWISS A321neo Business Class: Hamburg – Zurich

Two days after flying SWISS from Zurich to Hamburg on the A320, where the lounge in Zurich let me down badly (read that review), I flew back on the larger and newer A321neo. Same airline, same cabin, opposite direction: the perfect conditions for a fair comparison. So this SWISS A321neo Business Class review asks a simple question. Was the outbound flight an off day, or the new normal?

The Lufthansa Lounge in Hamburg

In Hamburg, SWISS has no lounge of its own; Business Class passengers use the Lufthansa lounge. After the overcrowded experience in Zurich two days earlier, the bar was not set high, and Hamburg cleared it comfortably. A solid airline lounge rather than a destination in itself, which is exactly what you need before a short flight home. Four points.

Great-circle distance between the airports.

Boarding and Seat

From my window seat I looked out over the wing, the apron of Hamburg Airport and a LOT Embraer at the neighbouring stand.

The principle of SWISS Business Class in Europe stays the same on the A321neo: slimline leather seats in a 3-3 layout, with the middle seat kept free in Business. What felt different was the cabin around it. The A321neo is a newer aircraft, the warm lighting along the ceiling gives the cabin a calmer feel, and a curtain separates Business Class from the rest of the aircraft. The seat itself was comfortable for the distance. Four and a half points, half a point more than on the outbound A320.

Leaving Hamburg

The climb out of Hamburg was a small city tour from above: first the airport itself, then the whole city laid out below, with the Alster lakes, the Elbe and the port clearly visible.

The Drinks: an Excellent Selection

Before the meal came the drinks round, and SWISS deserves a paragraph of its own for it. The selection was excellent and showed real thought: Gin 27 from Appenzell, a Swiss craft gin, comes with Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic rather than a generic mixer, served in a proper glass with ice and lemon. For guests who skip alcohol, as I do, the soft drinks come just as carefully served, over ice with a twist. Details like these tell you that someone at SWISS actually cares about the bar cart.

Catering

The tray confirmed what the drinks had promised. The starter was tuna, cut in generous slices, with green peas, a little frisée and a pale green mousse with a matching sauce. Beside it, two Swiss cheeses: Tête de Moine, shaved into its typical rosettes, and a bar of firm, aromatic hard cheese. A crusty bread roll, and for dessert a glass jar with a creamy layer under blueberry compote.

Fresh, well composed and generous for a flight of this length. The Tête de Moine is the kind of touch that makes SWISS recognisably Swiss at cruising altitude. Four point seven points: a whisker more than on the outbound flight.

Crew and Entertainment

The crew delivered the professional, friendly service I expect from SWISS, and earned half a point more than the crew on the way out. Four and a half points.

As usual on SWISS European routes, there are no seatback screens. Bring a book or a tablet, or simply look out of the window. Three and a half points.

Arrival: the Alps in Golden Light

For a Swiss passenger, there is no finer welcome home than an approach to Zurich on a clear day, and this one was as good as it gets. As we started our descent over north-eastern Switzerland, the sun was already low, and the whole country seemed to switch to softer colours. A lake shimmered on the horizon, the hills below turned from green to gold, and then the Alps appeared: the entire chain along the skyline, its peaks glowing pink in the low sun.

With every minute of the descent, the landscape below the wing grew greener and more detailed: forests and fields, villages with long evening shadows, and the lakes near Zurich mirroring the sky. Two days earlier I had seen the same countryside on the climb out of Zurich in bright afternoon light. Now, in the golden hour, it looked like a postcard someone had painted just for this flight. On a flight like this, the window seat is the best entertainment SWISS could offer.

Then came the final minutes before touchdown. This is how the flight ended, filmed from my window seat.

My answer to the question I started with: the outbound flight was an off day on the ground, not in the air. On the way home, SWISS got almost everything right.

About the author

Roger Hohl

Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.