SWISS To Fly New 777 To Miami But Delays Service To San Francisco

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SWISS has updated its flight schedules this week and the latest changes show good news for travelers to/from Miami and bad news for those flying to/from San Francisco. While the Zurich – Miami route will be getting the airlines new (and amazing looking) 777-300ER aircraft, the airline has pushed back 777-300ER service to/from San Francisco until 2017.

SWISS Zurich – Miami

Between 30 October 2016 and 24 March 2017 SWISS will deploy its new 777-300 aircraft on the Zurich – Miami route in the place of one of its Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

The 777-300ER will only fly the route 4x/week but that will still see capacity increase. Here’s the full route schedule:

LX066 ZRH 09:50 – 14:35 MIA (Daily A330 service)
LX064 ZRH 13:15 – 18:00 MIA (New 777-300ER service Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)
LX064 ZRH 13:15 – 18:00 MIA (A330 service Tue, Thur, Sat)

LX067 MIA 17:00 – 08:05+1 day ZRH (Daily A330 service)
LX065 MIA 19:50 – 11:00+1 day ZRH (A330 service Tue, Thur, Sat)
LX065 MIA 20:05 – 11:00+1 day ZRH (New 777-300ER service Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)

(HT: Routes Online)

SWISS Zurich – San Francisco

SWISS was scheduled to commence 777-300ER service to San Francisco from 31 August but, according to the latest scheduling, the SWISS’ newest aircraft won’t enter service on this route until 16 February 2017.

The 777-300ER is set to fly the route 3x/week with the full Zurich – SFO schedule currently looking like this:

LX038 ZRH 13:15 – 16:15 SFO (New 777-300ER service Tue, Thur, Sat)
LX038 ZRH 13:15 – 16:35 SFO (A340 service Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)

LX039 SFO 19:25 – 15:40+1 day ZRH (A340 service Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun
LX039 SFO 19:45 – 15:40+1 day ZRH (New 777-300ER service Tue, Thur, Sat)

SWISS Boeing 777-300ER

I first wrote about the new SWISS Boeing 777-300ER aircraft back in December when the airline was on the verge of receiving the first of its new aircraft….and it looked fantastic.

The aircraft is configured with First, Business and Economy class cabins split 8/62/270 and, from a miles & points perspective, it’s always good news when a new Business Cabin has as many as 62 seats – more seats equals more change of awards becoming available.

SWISS 777-300ER Seat Map

SWISS 777-300ER First Class

SWISS has taken a leaf out of the premium airline handbook with its new First Class cabin and offers passengers 8 suites that look understated and classy. No over-the-top “bling” here:

SWISS 777-300ER – New First Class Cabin

SWISS 777-300ER – New First Class Cabin

The SWISS First Class suites are equipped with 32″ IFE screens (the largest in the industry according to the airline), electrically adjustable window blinds and a dedicated wardrobe.

The seats also appear quite sociable as, from the pictures, it would appear that there is an ottoman at each seat that will allow for two people to enjoy a meal together.

SWISS 777-300ER Business Class

The new Business Class cabin looks great too although it’s worth pointing out an issue I noticed the first time I saw the cabin layout.  The airline has decided to go for a 1-2-1 and a 2-2-2 layout for their seats and that makes some seats in the Business Class cabin a lot more desirable than others – especially for solo travelers.

SWISS 777-300ER – New Business Class Cabin

Passengers in a 2-2-2 row and in a window seat don’t have access to the aisle without stepping over the person in the seat next to them and that’s less than impressive for a new Business Class product.

On the flip side, passengers who manage to get a window seat in a 1-2-1 row will find themselves in a seat I would love to try  – it looks like a throne. Here’s that seat in bed-mode:

SWISS 777-300ER – New Business Class Cabin

SWISS 777-300ER Economy Class

This is where things go a little wrong for the SWISS 777.

There is no getting away from the fact that SWISS has squeezed 10 seats across its Economy Class cabin and, sadly, that’s becoming the norm in today’s airline industry. This leaves passengers with seats only a little more than 17″ wide and that really isn’t enough on flights of 8+ hours.

SWISS 777-300ER Economy Class Seats

On a positive note, the Economy Class cabin give passengers 32″ of seat pitch which is an inch more than most airlines offer across the Atlantic and SWISS has added a self-serve kiosk offering “a wide range of drinks and snacks”. That’s novel for an Economy Class cabin.

Bottom Line

I’d love to try out both premium cabins on this aircraft but, realistically, I’m only likely to get a chance to try out the Business Class offering….but that’s not exactly a hardship! The “throne seat” in Business Class looks great and I’ll be keeping an eye out for a good fare sale so that I can try it out.

The Economy Class cabin doesn’t look great but it’s not as bad as you’ll get on a lot of airlines across the Atlantic (take a look at a seat comparison I posted last year). Sadly that actually makes this aircraft one of the better options for transatlantic travel…as long as you’re not challenged in the weight department.

If you’re booked to fly on SWISS between Zurich and San Francisco later this year you should check your reservation and seat assignments to make sure that, if you were originally on the 777-300ER, you’ve now been re-accommodated to your satisfaction.