Hi, dear flight-report members and readers! In this FR I'd like to present a detailed review of a rare Edelweiss A340-300 on a longhaul flight from Cape Town (CPT) to Zurich (ZRH), taken on 28 November 2018. This flight was very frustrating due to failed online check-in resulted in loss of a window seat and to horrible economy cabin (one of the worst in the world). On the other side, crew were nice and friendly and the meal service was rather good for a flight of this length.
Intro
A340-300 proved to be the longest-living member of A340 family due to its "hairdryer fan" CFM56 engines (due to their low thrust A343 is one of the slowest climbers at takeoff among widebodies), common (in general) with these of A32X and B73X, thus providing low mainteinance costs. Fuel consumption-wise A343 is comparable to B77E. Whereas the second generation of A340 (-500 and -600) is very rapidly dying now due to extremely "beefed up" design, very high MTOW and nonstandard Trent 500 engines with very limited pool of spare parts, A343 keeps to soldier on.
I deeply regret that I missed an opportunity to fly an AZAL A345 in 2018/2019 thinking that I'll be able to do it later, but then came pandemic and then days before 24.02.2022 I left Russia for good. In summer 2022 AZAL operated for a short while flights between Baku and Moscow with A345s and my friend was lucky to fly it once before AZAL grounded these very last passenger A345s for good (for spare parts for Aliev's governmental A346).
But, in 2018 I managed to fly 2 very different A343s in my short trip to South Africa: a Swiss one (HB-JMC, which then had 3-class layout F8_C47_Y164 with then-old-and-dated economy and since was reconfigured with updated economy and then transferred to Edelweiss and reconfigured again, keeping LX's economy seats, whereas all others LX A343s since 2023 got the unique for A343 4-class layout F8_C42_W21_Y144) on ZRH-JNB flight and a Edelweiss one (with much much less premium 2.5-class layout C27_Y+76_Y211) on CPT-ZRH flight.
Edelweiss is a kind of "leisure" subsidiary of Swiss, flying under its own code WK (Swiss also has a regional subsidiary Helvetic with Embraer fleet, but flying only under parent LX code) and de-facto is a part of Lufthansa Group (though, not a Star Alliance member). Now the days of both LX's and WK's A343 fleets are numbered: LX has just received its first A359 with 4-class layout (F4_C45_W38_Y156), where first and business are Lufthansa's Allegris products, but branded as "Swiss Senses", and WK has already received 3 ex-LATAM Brasil A359s with 2-class layout (C30_Y309) with JJ's cabins (and, having flown a JJ A359 in 2017, I have to say that in economy the hard product is far far far superior to WK A343 one). By 2026 all LX A343s will disappear, whereas WK A343s will stay a bit longer. Worth to note that WK serves with its A343s not only some long-haul destinations, but sometimes also mid-haul intra-EU beach destinations like ZRH-PMI (in the peak season). Also worth noting that WK soon adds to its long-haul network triangle ZRH-BOG-CTG-ZRH flights with A359 (and for economy passengers it will be very comfortable flights).
The check-in process on WK flight showed what a mess is Lufthansa Group was then (and is now): when check-in on my WK flight opened 24 hours before departure, I tried to check-in on Swiss website, but the result was a failure to check-in (in contrast, check in to the preceding LX's own flight from ZRH to JNB went without hiccups). Only several hours later I found out that it was possible to check-in (and to choose a seat for free) on Lufthansa website, but the precious time was lost: all the window seats were already taken.
Having had this very bitter lesson, I want to warn: if you have a ticked, issued by a member (or an associated member) of Lufthansa Group and you have problems with check-in on this very airline's website/app (or on the website/app of its parent airline), immediately try Lufthansa's website/app and, if this doesn't help, try the websites/apps of all the others LHG members and associated members!
A340-300 operators and their layouts
It would be useful to list the current A340-300 passenger operators and their layouts.
1) Conviasa: 1 unit with 3-class layout with first class (F8_C28_Y219).
2) Edelweiss: 4 units with 2.5-class layout (C27_Y+76_Y211). HB-JMC, transferred from LX in 2023, has new LX's economy seats.
3) Kam Air: 3 units in single-class all-economy layout (Y346, though with both 2-4-2 and 3-3-3 in different Y cabins) plus 1 unit (ex SAA bird) in 2-class layout (C38_Y215).
4) Legend Airlines: 3 units in single class all-economy layout (Y324).
5) Lufthansa: 16 units in 3-class layout (C30_W28_Y221). LH is the world's largest A343 operator and soon will be the world's last A343 operator outside of pariah states.
6) Mahan Air: 9 units, with only 1 unit with known layout (C30_Y261).
6) South African Airways: 2 units in 2-class layout (C38_Y215).
7) Swiss: 4 units in 4-class layout (F8_C42_W21_Y144). LX is the world's only operator of 4-class A343s. All units will be phased out by 2026.
Cape Town Airport (CPT)
Cape Town International Airport in 2018 was modern, having spacious but rather compact single terminal. The connectivity to the city was bad: one had to take taxi with no public transport available.
The Aircraft
The aircraft for today is 2003-built HB-JME, which was delivered new to Swiss and transferred to Edelweiss in 2018. I was able to take photos of her arrival from ZRH. Note the T-tail of Russian Ilyshin-76 on the background.
Boarding
A couple of views of the portside CFM-56 "drying fan" engines and of the fuselage from the jetbridge.
The Business Cabin
To the right from 2L door (yes, you read right: to the right!) there is the business class cabin, consisting of 27 Thompson Aero Vantage seats in very nonstandart asymmetric 1-2-1 / 2-2-1 layout (making some seat on the left side kind of "thrones", which will be shown further). I guess such location of the most premium cabin in the middle part of the plane has something to do with the weight balance (probably these seats are too heavy). The other cases when the most premium cabin is not located in the very front part of the plane, are Air China's B748s and (the last remaining) B744 (but in CA's case, as one can clearly see from the schemes, the main reason is the vast size of the first class suites which simply don't fit in the tapered Jumbo's nose).
Comparing business cabins of WK A343s and ex-JJ A359s (which are replacing A343s), passengers of A359s has less convenient layout 2-2-2, but with very spacious seats.
Here are the views of the business cabin from the right aisle:
The Economy Cabin
Due to very nonstandard location of the business cabin, economy class, having standard 2-4-2 layout, consists of 3 cabins. The front one, consisting of 76 seats with increased pitch (kind of "economy plus") is located in the very front of the plane between 1L/R and 2L/R doors. The regular economy has 211 seats, distributed between 2 cabins: the middle one between the business cabin and 3L/R doors, and the rear one between 3L/R and 4L/R doors.
Views of the middle economy cabin:
Views of the rear economy cabin:
The Economy Seat
Here is the duo block 38JK, where I'll be sitting, unfortunately, near the aisle. The economy seat model is Recaro CL3710 (only if you get HB-JMC on your WK flight, you'll get another - Swiss-ordered - seat model, which is way better). It was my first time flying in these seats and I was yet to discover how I will hate these seats after the flight! When I sat down, I felt that something was very wrong: the seat was extremely hard, tight and uncomfortable. Maybe, the aisle seat was not that bad considering possibility to stand up any time without bothering the neighbour…
The seatwidth is miserable 17.0". It seems like somebody (WK) is ignoring Airbus's recomendations about the seatwidth and just wasting the cabin width into the aisles. WTF, a 2-4-2 layout in A300-desdendant cabin with the seatwidth as in 3-4-3 B777 and even less than in 3-3-3 Dreamliner?! Little then I knew that narrow seatwidth is rather norm in A340s/A330s with ancient pre-2004 interiors…
The row pitch is horrendous. It's extremely tight even for me (177 cm height), who never had before any issues with the standard longhaul row pitch. So, we have a longhaul jet with the pitch as small as in some narrowbody ultralowcosters! Unbelievable!
The seat has adjustable headrest, quite good IFE with adjustable angle of the screen and good selection of the content, bifold tray table, hard (below the screen) and soft (under the table) seat pockets. Waiting on the seat were pillow and blanket. Inside the soft pocket there are safety card, inflight magazine and duty-free magazine.
The overhead panel is standard for ancient A343/A333/A332 with no personal airvents. Notice that here one lamp position is reserved for possible ultratight 3-3-3 layout (if WK decreased seatwidth by just 0.5", it would've been able to fit these Recaros in 9 abreast).
The Flight
Pushback commenced on time. A view of the outer starboard engine and of the CPT terminal.
On takeoff I wasn't able to spot any interesting view from my seat.
The flight map in the beginning of our trans-African crossing.
A view of the rear economy cabin after reaching the initial cruise altitude.
The lavatories are standard.
The breakfast is served. No hot dish, but good selection of Swiss cheeses, slices of meat, youghurt with musli, bun, butter and jam. The cutlery is metallic. Coffee is served in WK-branded cups. A bottle of Swiss water is also given.
Soon after crew hand earplugs.
Meanwhile we're flying over the plains of Namibia.
The middle economy cabin inflight.
The rear economy cabin inflight.
The 4L door.
The galley, stocked with snacks and drinks.
My catch.
The flight map as we're leaving the Namibia's airspace and enter the Angola's one.
One more view of the rear economy as my back and ass are starting to get Quadratisch (kein Praktisch, kein Gut) in these f*cking Recaros. One can notice that I'm not the only one suffering in these seats as some people are also standing up. More standing people to come, you'll see…
The dinner is served. Chicken in sause with potatos and vegs, meat-cheese-rice antipasto, cake, bun and butter. The cutlery is also metallic and there is a true glass for wine. Very good level! Only I feel a cognitive dissonance due to stark contrast between shitty economy cabin and quite high-level meal service?!
Meanwhile we're flying somewhere over Sahara desert with some awesome views (thankfully - this was the only time I said "thanks" to a Recaro seat! - my neighbour's back&ass also became Quadratisch and he stood up for a while, giving a possibility to have an unobstructed view from the window).
Meanwhile, the crew hands Movenpick ice-cream as the last meal service. Nice!
Our dense contrail over Sahara from the 4L door.
As the sun starts to getting low, the cabin lighting is turned to orange.
Couple of views of the rear economy. Note how many people are standing with their Quadratisch backs & asses!
3L door and a view of the middle economy cabin.
Meanwhile we're flying over the North Algiers.
Couple of views of surreal Algerian desert landscapes from 4L/R doors.
Trans-African crossing is over and we're flying over Mediterranean Sea.
One more view of the rear economy in the "sunset" moodlighting.
And the last snack from the galley.
The sunset was amazing (view from 4L door).
A343 wing in twilight.
Nighttime views of orange-lit middle- and rear economy cabins.
We landed in ZRH in pitch darkness outside.
The Economy Cabin After The Flight
38K seat after the flight (my 38J looked the same).
Views of the rear economy cabin upon disembarkment.
3L door.
Views of the middle economy cabin upon disembarkment.
The Business Cabin After The Flight
Views of the business class from the left aisle. At this side there are 3 "throne" seats (the best in this plane): 11A, 14A (the last photo in the gallery) and 16A.
The Economy Plus Cabin After The Flight
The crew allowed me to visit the "economy plus" cabin in the front, consisting of the same 76 shitty Recaros, but at least with decent pitch. Anyway, after such long flight your back & ass will also be Quadratisch in this cabin.
And now it's time to say adios to HB-JME (I'll hardly fly WK A343 ever again!) and to the friendly crew.
The 2L door.
The front part of the fuselage from the jetbridge.
Then I went to the border control to clear into Schengen zone and take my LX ZRH-CDG flight. After 11+ hours in the awful economy cabin of WK A343 I felt almost died, like after FRA-MEX flight on LH B748 a year earlier…
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
