With a fleet of 88 aircraft, Lufthansa Group member Swiss International Airlines
(SWISS) is an airline with an interesting mix of aircraft. One of the more fascinating aspects of
this airline's fleet is that it operates two relatively uncommon Airbus jets: The A340-300
and A220-100. The former has been written off by many airlines as outdated and inefficient,
while the latter has been overshadowed by the more popular A220-300. This mostly-Airbus
airline has a fairly diverse fleet and it’s something we’ll cover in today’s video…
First, let's take a look at the composition of the airline's fleet as a whole,
going through every aircraft type operated by SWISS, and the number listed as operational.
We'll first start with Airbus:
The airline has nine of the small A220-100. Interestingly, it was the global launch
customer for the type - which was known at the time as the Bombardier CSeries.
It’s not just the -100 operated by Swiss.
Indeed, the carrier also operates 21 of the larger and more popular A220-300.
For higher-capacity intra-European services,
the airline leans on its collection of A320 family aircraft,
These include 11 A320ceos, six A320neos, eight A321ceos, and two A321neos.
The A320ceos have the oldest average age of all the types,
nearing 22 years old at the time of making this video. On the other hand, the A320 and A321neos
are the youngest as the airline continues to swap ceos for neos as deliveries trickle in.
Moving up to Airbus widebodies, the airline has 14 A330-300s and five A340-300s.
Having flown with Swiss exclusively since being completed by Airbus,
the A340s now have an average age of nearly 19 years.
The Airbus A330s, having an average age of nearly 12 years, are a solid and reliable long-haul
workhorse for the airline. Unfortunately, over one third of the carrier’s A330 fleet
is currently listed as parked - sitting in the hot and arid climate of Amman, Jordan.
On the Boeing side, the airline operates just one type of Boeing aircraft, the 777-300ER. There are
currently 12 of these in the fleet - something we’ll examine more closely later in this video.
Since examining the Swiss fleet last year on our website,
we notice that aircraft numbers have actually shrunk since July
2021. Last year we noted that there were 92 aircraft in the fleet. However, there are now 88.
The main change has to do with the retirement of older A320ceos, which went down from 21 to 15.
These phase-outs actually began last summer, with three leaving in 2021
and two leaving earlier this year.
However, it’s worth noting that the A320s that were retired from Swiss this year
haven’t actually gone too far. Indeed, they now operate for leisure-focused carrier Edelweiss Air.
This carrier is also based in Zurich and, like Swiss, is a member of the Lufthansa Group.
With just 88 jets, the Swiss fleet is smaller than its fellow Lufthansa Group legacy carriers,
Lufthansa (with 286 aircraft) and Austrian with 61. However,
it’s still larger than fellow group member Brussels Airlines and its 40 aircraft.
As we briefly touched on earlier, SWISS, through its parent company Lufthansa Group,
was one of the first airlines to order the Airbus A220,
known at the time as the CSeries. In fact, the carrier was the launch customer of the type,
first operating the CS100 (now the A220-100) in 2016. The airline now has 30 A220s.
Across both variants, FlightRadar24 suggests that the longest routes are out of Geneva, flying
to the the Cypriot city of Larnaca and to the Ponta Delgada Airport in the Azores archipelago.
The airline, unfortunately, had to experience all the growing pains that can
come with a brand new aircraft type entering service. Following a series of incidents,
SWISS actually grounded its entire fleet of Airbus A220 aircraft for a short period of time in 2019.
The multiple incidents involved SWISS' Pratt and Whitney geared turbofan engines. In one case,
an A220 had to divert to Paris after flames were reportedly observed coming from the engine.
Investigators even appealed to the public to help
find parts that may have fallen from the aircraft at the time.
Less than two weeks later, it was revealed that software settings might have caused the issues.
Indeed, as we reported in late 2019,
the problems seemed to have begun only after a software update was released. The software
supposedly allowed the engine to behave in a manner that allowed for destructive vibrations.
The Airbus A340 is becoming increasingly rare as a commercial passenger aircraft.
The global health crisis has been a major part of this, with airlines like SAS, Iberia, and Virgin
Atlantic retiring the quadjet during the pandemic. However, SWISS is still holding on to its A340s.
As we already noted, SWISS currently has five A340-300s, all of which are active at the time
of producing this video. Unsurprisingly tasked with operating high-capacity long-haul services,
you’ll find the A340s flying from Zurich to cities such as Johannesburg,
New York, Chicago, and Hong Kong. The airline also deploys the type to Dubai every now and then.
There has been some expectation that the carrier will retire this portion of its fleet.
Up until late last year a timeframe had yet to be revealed. However, last November.
According to Executive Traveller, Swiss is set to phase out its fleet of Airbus A340s
sometime in 2024 or 2025 at the latest.
It’s interesting to note that, while the airline is planning on this phase-out,
it hasn’t yet selected a direct replacement for the type.
However, Executive Traveller notes that the airline is expected to
draw from a group order placed by parent company Lufthansa Group.
This could see the airline operating the Airbus A350-900 or Boeing 787-9, or both types.
With the A340s currently seating 243 passengers across three classes, the Boeing 787-9 or A350-900
will do well as replacements for the type- even potentially offering a little more capacity.
While Swiss CEO Dieter Vranckx has high praise for his fleet of A340s and their range and cargo
capacity, he knows their time is limited. Speaking at an online CAPA event in November, he said:
"...We know that during the last 12 to 18 months,
cargo has played an important role in keeping up a large degree of our intercontinental network…but
I would see the period somewhere between [20]24-25 (as) the period to get them out of the fleet."
But moving on from the A340s, the Swiss collection is interesting in that it
is mainly Airbus but with a single Boeing aircraft type: The 777-300ER.
The Boeing 777-300ER is the airline's flagship jet and is a relatively young
part of SWISS operations. The average age of these jets is just over 5 years.
Having a higher capacity than the A340-300,
Swiss will continue to rely on these popular high-capacity twinjets. The airline’s CEO says
that it has quote “proven an extremely efficient aircraft (with) really large cargo capacity."
Originally anticipated to be flying with a premium economy cabin in 2021,
the carrier’s 777s have only recently, in the past few months, received their new seats.
In late February the airline showed off the first of the 777s equipped with premium economy.
The entire 777 fleet has since been outfitted with the brand new product
and is, in fact, the only aircraft type operated by Swiss to offer a premium economy cabin.
SWISS Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Tamur Goudarzi Pour
said in a press statement a the time:
“Our SWISS Premium Economy Class is a top-quality standout product against our international
competitors…Our Premium Economy Class should be especially appealing to travellers who have
flown Economy Class to date and would like to enhance their inflight comfort and convenience.”
This class is fairly in-line with the premium economy experience offered by
other full-service carriers. This includes access to noise-reducing headphones
and a larger inflight entertainment screen.
Swiss premium economy passengers also receive sustainability-focused amenity kits. Provided by
the Skysupply company, these utilize kraft paper and paper pulp to cut down the use of plastics.
With the ongoing replacement of its A320ceos with A320neos, combined with its aging A340s,
the Swiss fleet is definitely in a transitionary period
at the moment. While its narrowbody fleet is well on its way to full modernization,
replacing the airline’s A340s will be the next big and exciting change on the horizon.
Although it’s not nearly as big and exciting as fellow airline group member Lufthansa,
Swiss and its collection of aircraft will definitely be worth keeping an
eye on in the next two to three years.
Have you flown on any of these SWISS aircraft? For you, which type is your
favorite? And do you think it should go with the A350 or 787? Let us know in the comments.