SWISS Completes First A350-900 Passenger Flight

The Airbus A350 program has confirmed a triumph for the European planemaker, racking up over 1,400 orders since its launch. With over 45 airways now working the environment friendly long-haul twinjet, the A350 continues to draw new orders to cement its place within the widebody market.

The most recent member of the A350 membership is SWISS, which accomplished its first-ever A350 income service on Saturday morning, ushering in a brand new period of long-haul journey on the Swiss airline.

SWISS Enters A350 Into Income Service

SWISS Flight LX2152 departed Zurich (ZRH) at 07:10, touchdown in Palma de Mallorca (PMI) at 08:40 after roughly 90 minutes of flight time. The flight had 233 passengers onboard and would be the first of many shorter European flights to familiarize the crew earlier than its long-haul debut subsequent month.

As Easy Flying reported earlier this month, HB-IFA accomplished its maiden take a look at flight in early October earlier than its supply to SWISS on October 9, turning into the primary of ten A350-900s scheduled to reach on the service within the coming years. The airframe has been given the title ‘Lausanne’ and might seat as much as 242 passengers throughout 4 cabin lessons, with 4 in first-class, 45 in enterprise, 38 in premium economic system and 156 in economic system.

SWISS Chief Working Officer Oliver Buchhofer commented,

“Introducing a brand new plane sort is all the time a serious enterprise, in technical, operational and business phrases. Our individuals, each on the bottom and within the air, have carried out painstaking preparations to make this second occur. And our first A350 passenger flight right this moment is a credit score to everybody who works day in, day trip to make sure that we keep secure and dependable flight operations.”

What The A350 Brings To SWISS

The airline guarantees the A350 will fully rework its long-haul product because the flagship for its new ‘SWISS Senses’ cabin and revamped first-class and enterprise service. The plane may even be a big step-up in effectivity in comparison with the A340-300s it’s changing, delivering as much as 25% decrease gas burn and 50% decreased noise emissions.

SWISS’ first A350 might be deployed on a handful of different European routes within the coming weeks, flying to the likes of Düsseldorf, Hanover, Malaga and Prague. These shorter routes might be for crew familiarization earlier than the kind’s eventual deployment on long-haul providers – throughout this era, the primary class cabin won’t be bookable and Premium Financial system might be supplied as Financial system with better legroom.

This implies first-class will not make its debut till November 20 from Zurich to Boston, which would be the first flight that includes the complete SWISS Senses long-haul expertise. The widebody will carry out as much as 5 weekly flights to Boston till the start of the summer time 2026 season, and can be scheduled to fly to Montreal early subsequent yr.

Rising Checklist Of A350 Operators

In line with ch-aviation information, there are 639 A350 plane listed as lively at over 45 airways worldwide. There have been a handful of recent A350 operators throughout the previous yr, probably the most important being Emirates. The Dubai-based service took its first A350 supply in November 2024 and now has 11 plane in its fleet.

Moreover, SWISS’ fellow Lufthansa Group subsidiary Edelweiss Air welcomed its first A350 airframe earlier this yr, though its planes characteristic a higher-density structure of 339 whole seats.

Among the many future operators of the A350 are Saudi Arabian nationwide airline Riyadh Air, which has commitments for as much as 50 A350s, together with Egyptair, EVA Air, IndiGo, KLM and Qantas. Airbus has secured over 1,000 orders for the A350-900 and round 360 for the stretched A350-1000, whereas the A350F is slated to enter service in 2027.