Zurich-Stockholm in business on Swiss: excellent service

Second leg of the journey to my final destination, Stockholm, a Zurich-Stockholm flight on an Airbus A220 Swiss in business class.

A reminder of the routing for this Scandinavian fortnight.

And articles related to this trip :

#	Type	Post
1	Hotel	Moxy Paris CDG (no article, look at our previous articles on Moxy Paris CDG )
2	Flight	Paris-Zurich – Swiss – Business Class
3	Flight	Zurich-Stockholm – Swiss – Business Class (here)
4	Hotel	Miss Clara by Nobis – Stockholm
5	Restaurant	Restaurant Nisch – Stockholm
6	Restaurant	Restaurant Sture Of – Stockholm
7	Flight	Stockholm-Copenhagen – SAS – SAS GO (eco)
8	Hotel	Moxy Copenhagen Sydhavnen
9	Restaurant	Restaurant The Shrimp Copenhaguen
10	Restaurant	Restaurant Marv&Ben Copenhaguen
11	Lounge	SAS Gold Lounge in Copenhagen
12	Flight	Copenhagen-Stockholm – SAS – SAS GO (eco)
13	Flight	Stockholm-Gothenburg – SAS – SAS GO (eco)
14	Hotel	Radisson Blu Scandinavia Gothenburg
15	Lounge	Vinga lounge in Gothenburg
16	Flight	Gothenburg-Zurich – Swiss – Business Class
17	Flight	Zurich-Paris – Swiss – Business Class

So I’m resuming my story in Zurich, where I’ve just arrived. I headed for the Swiss Senator lounge to pass the time before leaving for Stockholm.

The Swiss Senator lounge in Zurich

I make my way quietly to the Swiss lounge and there…

The queue is impressive, and with good reason: a visibly severe COVID gauge is applied in this lounge, which is usually packed at peak times.

Never mind, I’ll pass the time in the terminal by wandering around and taking a long break in one of the smoking cubicles, the only place where you can remove your mask in peace.

Shortly before boarding time, I head for the gate.

Boarding in Zurich

When I see where the door is, I think it looks like a boarding by bus, and I’m not wrong. And bus boarding means long boarding, so by the time I get to the gate, it’s already started.

There’s no respect for boarding priorities (and besides, what’s the point of them on a bus, given that the first to board are usually the last to get off…?) and it’s in a chaos that has nothing Swiss about it that I get on the bus.

After a short stroll along the tarmac, we arrive at the foot of our A220.

Everyone gets off the bus in a mess, but after a few minutes I’m finally on the plane.

The business cabin class of the Swiss A220

No surprise, it’s a carbon copy of the one I had from Paris to Zurich.

Once again, I salute its sobriety and the comfort of the seat. Once again, for the curious, this is not the brand-new Geven Essenza seat that is gradually being fitted to all Lufthansa Group airlines’ A320s and 321s, but a ZIM Unique, specific to Swiss’s A220 (but just as new as the other).

In row 1, legroom is good but not exceptional.

There will be 4 rows of business class seats on this flight.

Note the movable but rigid partition separating the two cabins. More aesthetically pleasing than a curtain and, above all, less annoying for the passenger just behind the curtain.

There are already people on the plane, so we’re the 2nd bus…and a 3rd is yet to arrive.

We’re finally ready to leave, on time.

Flight from Zurich to Stockholm

As I settle in, a bottle of water, a refreshing wipe and a disinfectant wipe are placed on the seat next to me.

In this “2-3” cab configuration, the central seat of blocks of 3 is neutralized, as is one of the two seats in blocks of 2. Others should be inspired…

The “buy on board” menu can be found in the seat pocket, but its usefulness in the business cabin remains to be seen, given that unlike our friends in economy class, we benefit from a meal included in the price of the ticket.

For once, the captain steps out of the cockpit to welcome us.

Safety instructions are broadcast on the individual mini-screen as we taxi to the runway. You might think that these screens are gadgets on this type of aircraft, especially given their size, but they immediately give this one a more premium look. It’s a pity that Air France skipped them on its own A220s.

Meanwhile, we pass one, then two, then three Swiss A220s. The Swiss airline was the first to make full use of the A220 (then known as the Bombardier C Series), which it has now been operating for almost 6 years, receiving the 30th and final aircraft of its order last year.

After a remarkably quiet take-off (thanks to the A220), we gradually move away from the Zurich countryside.

Stockholm here we come!

Quickly, the curtain separating the two parts of the cabin is drawn and my order for the main course is taken.

But first I’d like to start with a glass of Duval Leroy. Then a second one.

The meal will arrive quite quickly, which is one of the reasons why I chose Swiss over Lufthansa or Air France for this trip.

Swiss offers hot meals from 2 hours flight time on medium-haul flights, something that Lufthansa, to my recollection, only offers from 3 hours, and Air France only on certain destinations (including Stockholm), and not for long, from what I hear.

I’ll accompany it with an excellent Pinot Noir.

The dish (chicken) is delicious, really melting and very tasty. The purée is just as melt-in-the-mouth, with only the carrots looking a little insipid.

The dessert looks rather engaging and turns out to be quite good. The mousse will be nicely light.

They come back to offer us another drink service as I finish my meal above Berlin.

Of course, the traditional Swiss chocolate rounds off the service.

Or rather, the main service. Because, once again, unlike some other airlines where the staff disappear into the galley once the service is over, on Swiss and Lufthansa, to name but two, they continue to pop in regularly to offer us drinks.

In the absence of a real screen, this is how I settle in with my “personal IFE” to complete the flight in a not unpleasant configuration.

As we get closer to Sweden, the sky becomes darker and clouds appear.

It’s finally time to prepare for landing.

The Swiss crew

A 2-hour flight gives you more opportunities to judge the service. The crew was very friendly, professional and efficient. Fast service, lots of courteous exchanges with passengers, nothing to complain about.

And once the service was over, they never stopped offering new beverage services right up to the arrival point, something that seems obvious but is unfortunately not the case everywhere.

Arrival in Stockholm

Sweden in mid-September is already a foretaste of autumn…

It’s quite a change from Dubrovnik, where I was 72 hours earlier…

As soon as we’ve landed, we’re off to our parking stand alongside a bunch of SAS playing at home.

Once we’ve arrived at our parking spot, everyone stands up and….waits. For some reason that even the crew can’t explain, it takes a good 5 minutes before the jetway is in place. It was almost as if we were at Roissy… And in the end we disembarked without…but a few meters from the terminal, in “false contact”, which saved having to take the bus.

We’re not out of the woods yet, since instead of picking up our suitcases, we’re directed to the police checkpoints…which have been converted to health pass controls for “Schengen” flights.