Our UK and Italy holiday was coming to an end, and it was time to head home. For our flight back to Singapore, I was determined to fly SWISS Business Class, having had to cruelly cancel a redemption back in May after our positioning flight went tech in London. Originating from Milan ended up making the most sense. We booked a one-way business class ticket from Milan back to Singapore via Zurich. It wasn’t cheap, but it fit our itinerary best and was heaper than than most other major European cities.
Ironically, this first leg was operated by a Helvetic Airways E195-E2 on behalf of SWISS, the exact same aircraft type and operator that let us down in London back in May. This time, we were on a single ticket and I built in an extremely long transit in Zurich. If things go wrong, no matter since we were protected. If things went as scheduled, great we’d have time to see a bit of Zurich and spend time in the Senator lounge.
The hop from Milan to Zurich was extremely short, around 35min flying time despite being blocked at 1h. It wasn’t time for much service, but it was a pleasant short flight. The service was friendly and the Lufthansa lounge was nice too. However, the best part of the flight was probably the lovely views enroute. Most importantly as far as I was concerned, we arrived more or less on time.
Check-in
We arrived at Milan Malpensa Terminal 1 at around 1.15pm for our 3pm flight LX1629. We took the Malpensa Express from Milan Centrale FS after checking out from the Hilton Milan. It was a short walk from the railway station and up in the elevator to the departure level. SWISS and other Lufthansa Group airlines share a common check-in area at row 6. It was clearly a quiet time for check-in, since the counters were deserted.
We checked-in at the First Class check-in counter, which I was entitled to by virtue of my Star Alliance Gold status. Not that it really mattered since there was no one else checking-in. For some reason, the agent tried to insist that we complete the SG Arrival Card (SGAC) before check-in. I have occasionally received reminders to complete the SGAC when checking-in, but never been told it’s requirement for check-in. I firmly but politely told the agent that we will complete it later in the lounge, and she can double check Timatic to confirm it’s not a condition for check-in. She did so and eventually relented, but not before reminding us again to complete it. I guess she was being cautious, but it’s a bit unnecessary to be that zealous with Singaporean passport holders.
That little kerfuffle settled, she issued us our boarding passes for both legs, advised us we could use the fast track security and gave us directions to the Lufthansa Lounge.
Security wasn’t too crowded, but we used the Via Milano Fast Track anyway, just because we could. I reckoned it saved us a couple of minutes max. Nonetheless, it’s nice to see an airport and airline offer fast track for premium passengers.
Lounge
Lufthansa operates its own lounge in Milan Malpensa, which is used by all the LH Group airlines of course. Unlike the lounge in London Heathrow which we visited earlier on this trip, the lounge in Milan is a single lounge with no Senator section. I’ve done a full review of the lounge here, so I won’t go into too much details here.
The lounge is located at “A” gates area, a little beyond the walkway to the A1-A10 pier.
It’s not a huge lounge, but it was quiet and never felt crowded on the Monday afternoon we were there. We ended up spending more time in the lounge than anticipated due to the late arrival of the aircraft from Zurich. The lounge didn’t differ too much from the usual Lufthansa lounge template, but it felt like one of the nicer LH Group lounges I’ve visited. The lack of crowd was definitely a major factor. The lounge has got a lot of natural sunlight, maybe even too much.
The food offerings were ok; it was nice to see a few hot options. The drinks options were pretty the standard, though it was nice to see a Prosecco in a non-Senator lounge.
For more details on the Lufthansa lounge Milan, read my full review here.
Boarding
Boarding was delayed due to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft from Zurich. It was due to arrive at 2.15pm, but ended up arriving around 20min late. SWISS had sent a text message to inform passengers of a revised departure time of 3.15pm. We left the lounge around 2.45pm for a leisurely walk to our gate. To get the our gate, we had to traverse the long corridor to the A1-A10 pier.
Boarding ended up commencing close to the originally scheduled departure time of 3pm. Although no announcements were made, I did notice what appeared to be Group 1 and 2 passengers being let through beyond the boarding pass scan, but were held at the top of the aerobridge. A boarding announcement for Group 3 was finally made, but we managed to skip the queue with our Group 2 boarding passes.
Having gotten through after the other Group 1 and 2 passengers had boarded, but before most of the horde of Group 3 and beyond, we managed to avoid the typical holdup on the aerobridge that tends to occur with narrowbody flights.
Onboard
Seating
For this short flight, we were seated in 3A and 3D. The Helvetic E195-E2 is configured 2-2, typical of E-jets. Business class was Euro business, meaning the same seats and pitch as Economy but with a blocked seat next to each passenger. The 2-2 configuration meant we couldn’t sit together, and I didn’t want to get into a lecture on weight and balance for a 30min flight.
The seats themselves were the typical slimline seats found on most short-haul aircraft nowadays. Even on short legs like this, or even London-Zurich which we did a few days prior, I could feel the lack of cushioning and support.
Legroom wasn’t that great as expected of a regional jet operating short-hauls. It’s acceptable for this very short flight, or even slightly longer trips to London for example, but I probably wouldn’t want to spend more than a couple of hours onboard. Recline was quite minimal too.
As with almost all narrowbodies in Europe, there’s no personal inflight entertainment screens. Helvetic Airways aircraft don’t have inflight Wi-Fi either, though some SWISS mainline A320s do. There were 2 USB-A ports per passenger to keep devices charged. Though with most newer devices using USB-C to USB-C cables, USB-A ports are slowly becoming out of fashion.
The tray table for 3A had one broken arm so it couldn’t stay horizontal. I ended up using the tray table for 3C instead.
The Helvetic E195-E2 has individual air vents for each passenger. I know some travellers like it when airlines install these.
The Helvetic E195-E2 was perfectly adequate for such a short flight. While the 2-2 configuration is great when flying Economy, the Euro business style of blocking the adjacent was a minor inconvenience when flying as a couple. The slimline seats were a little hard and lacking cushioning, but such is the trend in aircraft seating nowadays.
Service
Waiting at the adjacent blocked seat when we boarded was a bottle of water and a refreshing tissue. SWISS usually offers the bottled water in Economy as well.
Once the crew were released after takeoff, the crew-in-charge, who was serving Business Class, came around to take drink orders and offer a choice of a curry chicken or vegetarian sandwich. I didn’t need to eat, but for the purpose of this review I requested the vegetarian sandwich, which turned out to be vegetables and cheese, and a Coke. My girlfriend got the curry chicken. The crew-in-charge mixed up our sandwiches initially, but corrected himself quickly and swapped the two around. The Coke was served in proper glassware.
Maybe it’s my unfamiliarity with European bread, but this sandwich was rock hard. I gnawed through a few bites and gave up, deciding to leave space for an early dinner in Zurich instead. My girlfriend had the same complaint about her chicken sandwich. Lufthansa Group intra-Europe Business Class catering is hit and miss, and this flight was far too short to expect much.
The views
Enroute to Zurich, we were treated to some lovely views of Switzerland. The short flight time meant a fairly low cruising altitude, so we got enjoy some really nice sights.
The views were honestly the best part of this short hop.
Arrival
We touched down in Zurich a couple of minutes after our scheduled arrival time of 4pm. We pulled up at a remote bay, which meant one thing – Business Bus. For short haul flights that arrive at a remote bay, SWISS provides a dedicated bus for Business Class passengers. Once all Business Class passengers were on the bus, it immediately headed for the terminal. It’s nice to see SWISS provide this service which helps to lessen the irritation many passengers would feel with a remote bay arrival.
Conclusion
With a short 35min flight time, it’s hard to make a fair judgement of SWISS short haul Business Class. We arrived just about on time, and that’s the most important. The crew were friendly which was nice. Getting to sample the Business Bus was an added bonus, if only for review purposes. If this had been a standalone sector, I definitely wouldn’t pay for Business Class. Overall the flight went fine, and that’s probably all that can be asked for a very short intra-Europe “Euro business” flight.