In late 2022, SWISS formally announced that it would add Airbus A350s to its fleet. There’s now an update, as the airline has announced more details of when it will start to take delivery of these jets, and what the first destinations will be.
Lufthansa Group has dozens of Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 787-9s on order, and these will be split between Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian. What we know for sure is that SWISS will take delivery of 10 Airbus A350-900s — the first five should be delivered between the fall of 2025 and the end of 2027, while the other five should be delivered by the end of 2031. So that’s quite a slow delivery timeline, with an average of under two new jets per year.
The first batch of A350s will be used to replace the carrier’s fleet of four Airbus A340-300s. Meanwhile the remaining A350s will be used to replace SWISS’ oldest Airbus A330-300s. Both the Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 777-300ERs have a long term place in SWISS’ fleet, so for the A330s, it’ll only be a partial fleet replacement. The A350 is an incredible aircraft, with huge range, excellent economics, and great passenger comfort.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
