Swiss pushes premium economy in A350 layout

Swiss will grow the premium economy cabin on its A350s as part of its “Swiss Senses” interiors program. The new design, first shared in March 2023 for the A330s and parallel to the Lufthansa Allegris concept, will be delivered on the A350 fleet direct from the factory.

With our new cabin concept, we will still remain the only major airline in the world to offer a First Class cabin on all its long-haul aircraft. We will also be increasing the size of our Premium Economy Class, which has proved very popular. And in both these respects, we are further clearly positioning SWISS as Europe’s leading premium airline.

– Tamur Goudarzi Pour, SWISS’ Chief Commercial Officer

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The plane is designed for 242 passengers. Three of those will be in the exclusive first class cabin, except when there will be four. In an interesting twist it appears the “middle” seat is actually two seats and can be booked for either one customer or two.

The 45 business class seats on board cover a variety of seat types and options, similar to the Allegris cabin idea where passengers will be spoiled for choice. And the opportunity to pay extra for more preferable seating options.

Swiss is exceedingly proud of the expanded premium economy cabin on board the A350, with 38 seats available. That is a significant jump from the 21-24 on board the carrier’s wide-body aircraft today. Also notable in the design is that premium economy will be a 2-3-2 layout on the A350. Most airlines chose 2-4-2 on the type; Lufthansa, FrenchBee, and China Airlines are the few who chose 2-3-2 instead.

Swiss will carry 156 seats in economy class, including a somewhat unexpected mini-cabin of 16 seats nestled between premium economy and the lavatories at the third exit doors. But those 16 seats likely could have only traded for 7 more in premium economy; eventually the need for cabin density overrides other choices.

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The carrier calls out a self-service area on board for business class passengers, as well as one for economy class. Presumably premium economy travelers will be able to also use the economy class snack bar when it is open. Those two cabins will also share five lavatories on board. Business class gets two lavatories and first class has a dedicated facility.

Swiss holds orders for five A350-900s, with delivery expected from 2025. The planes will replace the four A340-300s currently flying for the carrier in a 8/42/21/144 layout.