Review of SWISS flight from Zurich to London in Business

My First Business Class Flight!

I remember back in 2017 I wanted to get one last flight in with the Swiss Avro RJ100 which was in the process of being retired by Swiss as they were introducing the then brand new Bombardier C-Series aircraft family, the CS-100 & CS-300, now known in 2025 as the Airbus A220-family.

I booked a day trip to Zurich for May 2017, I had to fly out on a Swiss Airbus A321, which I previously covered, and my return flight that afternoon would be on an Avro RJ100 from Zurich Kloten to London City Airport, which was almost guaranteed to be an Avro RJ100!

Swiss International had the Avro RJ100 and its smaller sister aircraft the Avro RJ85 in its fleet at its formation in October 2002 when its predecessor Crossair bought out the operations and fleet of the defunct Swissair- with Crossair being a regional carrier, the Avro RJ was the backbone of its jet fleet alongside some various turboprop aircraft, with Swissair's global fleet bringing to the airline McDonnell-Douglas MD-11, Airbus A320-family and Airbus A330.

Several weeks after I made the booking, an offer to upgrade my flights was sent by email from Swiss, but I noticed the upgrade was being promoted for only £45 on the Zurich to London City route, so I opted to jump for it as it was a bargain price and I had never flown business class before. With it also being the last time I'd fly a Swiss Avro- I thought this would also be a good farewell party!

Zurich Airport and the Swiss Lounge!

After spending a day wondering about Zurich city centre and enjoying a few hours at the Zurich Airport observation deck, it was time to go catch my flight back to London. As Zurich Airport is one of the two major hubs for Swiss, I knew there would be a business class lounge to enjoy, so went airside early to ensure I got a good 2 hours of lounge time before I had to get my Avro to LCY!

I went to the departures area and I was allowed to use the Priority Security lane due to my Business Class ticket, once I got airside I set about finding a Swiss Business Lounge…

I easily found one of the many Swiss lounges located at Zurich Airport, though as it was over 8 years ago, I'm not sure which one I specifically visited… I'm guessing its the Swiss Business Lounge D, but if you recognised the lounge and its wrong, please let me know! 

I was at the lounge around 3pm, so it was getting busy with various late afternoon long-haul flights due out as well as an upcoming rush period for European flights out of Zurich, feeding out these long-haul flights.

I grabbed a few random snack items, then went back a little while later once the food selection near me was restocked. It was a nice lounge, but one negative for me, a knit-picky first world issue at that, is the lack of decent views of the Airport and aircraft… but I digress.

I also had time to visit the shower to freshen up as it was quite a warm day in Zurich, and I thought- if its free to use, let's try get a visit in. It was quite a nice space, the shower was decent and there was some slippers on offer in the shower you could use, so I took them and I still have them to this date in my collection!

Eventually it was time for me to get over to my flight, I had to get going as it was going to be a bus gate for an Avro RJ100, as well as needing to clear passport control to leave the Schengen Zone, which Switzerland is apart of.

I found my gate area, near the gate my flight would be boarding the bus gate from I spotted a Swiss Airbus A321 readying for its next venture across Europe. It was a nice bus ride over to our aircraft, as we rode around to our plane I got to see some various aircraft parked about.

Swiss LX466: Avro RJ100 in Business (ZRH-LCY)

My flight to London City from Zurich Kloten would be operated by the Star Alliance liveried Swiss Avro RJ100, HB-IYU, this aircraft has an interesting story for its flying career… It was one of the last Avro RJ built in December 2000, it flew for British Airways under their franchise agreements with Cityflyer Express & BA Cityflyer Express until 2006 as G-CFAC. It then ended up flying for Swiss International for 11 years from 2006 to 2017, it was one of the final two Avro RJ in the Swiss fleet. 

It flew for 2 years after leaving Swiss for Cello Aviation before ending up as an Airbus Testbed for 2 years at Toulouse. Since October 2024 the "stored" aircraft has a new owner H&C Aero and has been registered as 2-WEFX… There is a chance this plane could fly again and see a few more years of gracing the skies, but for now we get back to the Flight Report.

Boarding the Avro RJ100, I took my place in Seat 1A, another first time for me, getting Row 1 on a flight! It offered a brilliant front view of the engines on the left side, as well as offering a good amount of legroom before the bulkhead! The seat to my right (Seat 1B) was blocked off which is standard in "Euro-Business" products, luckily the Avro RJ has a 2-3 seating layout, so the right side is the only side offering an Aisle Seat, though the seat wasn't closed by a table, so you could sit in Seat 1B if you don't want the window!

We had a quick taxi off our remote stand and before we knew it- we rocketed out of Zurich Airport making a few turns to get us facing the North-bound routing back across Switzerland, France and towards the UK! Looking at the surviving photos of the departure, we appeared to take off on Runway 10… I also got some amazing photos of the Alps as we left Switzerland!

The lunch service was provided pretty quickly after take off. For a cold plate, it was quite decent and I enjoyed it! The main dish had some salad items, a pork and soft cheese main item, some Swiss cheeses with a bread roll and a luxurious tasting vanilla desert with chocolate dusting on top, I had a cola to wash it down… Once my dinner was done another drink round was done and I found out they had a champagne on offer, so I elected to enjoy one as it was my first time flying business class.

Overall it was quite a nice relaxing flight, I know "Euro-Business" gets a lot of critic from providing the standard seat with a blocked middle seat compare to Asian, Australian and North American airlines who offer better and official premium seating, but service wise, this was a good flight and a decent lunch, plus I got access to one of the many Swiss lounges at ZRH, something (comparably) US Airlines don't necessarily offer on business class flights (aka, Domestic First) within the US without status or certain credit card partnerships.

As much as I was enjoying this flight, it didn't take long for the coastlines of Blighty to show up as we were heading into London via the East as we were going into London City, but before decent began- the crew did the usual with the treat of SWISS branded chocolate, though I ended up with two as I was flying in business class!

We flew in over my mates place just outside of East London, passing the Dartford Toll bridge, I took a phone snap for him, before we started preparing for the arrival into London City!

Our approach into London City was almost direct as we were cleared to arrive into Runway 27. The sounds from the Whisper Jet as it began to power down during arrival was pretty cool for this AvGeek!

We landed and used almost the entire runway before exiting at the end of the Runway for the final few metres to our stand where we'd be doing an open disembarking, London City doesn't not employ jet bridges. As we taxied I spied a few BA Cityflyer ERJ-190 parked up between their flights into Europe, also check out the listed Tate & Lyle factory building that you can see behind LCY airport from the Northside of the Airport.

We taxied to stand, I stayed behind to get some last minute photos as this was going to be my "Final Fling" with the Swiss Avro- so I wanted some last pictures before I left the aircraft as it was going to be C-Series & Airbus A320s after this trip if I return to Swiss!

I was also allowed a quick visit to the Flight Deck after landing to get one last view of the cockpit. The Avro RJ is a dying breed and is only widely used as Cargo, VIP, STEM or Military use… I did another flight on an RJ85 a few months after this, but since 2017 I've sadly not flown an Avro RJ, which likely means I won't personally get to fly one again- however there is an ex-LCY resident Avro preserved at Norwich at the local Aviation Museum- so I might still get to grace the inside of an Avro on the ground!

As I walked away from the aircraft after arrival, I did manage to grab one last quick snap of the Avro RJ100 wearing its STAR ALLIANCE special livery, the end of a lovely flight and one I certainly won't forget anytime soon!