Hello everyone, I'm pleased to take you with me onboard my trip back home with Lufthansa Group.
As a reminder, I was supposed to fly back to Geneva the Wednesday, 5th of April 2023 with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines via Amsterdam. But due to a strike in Netherlands my two flights were cancelled 5 days before departure. Therefore, the return will occur one day ago with Lufthansa Group via their subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss via Vienna.
This trip report covers the last leg of my trip to Croatia, from Vienna Schwechat to Geneva.
This leg is an opportunity for me to kill two birds with one stone: try the Airbus A220, and fly with Swiss for the first time.
VIENNA INTL TERMINAL 3
I see you again inside the Terminal 3 of Vienna Airport where Austrian operates its flights. I used to transit in this terminal by August 2021 when I flew back home from Greece with Austrian Airlines.
I really like transiting in this terminal, it feels very modern and you have plenty of restaurants and cafés to spend lunchtime and dinner time.
On the way, here is a playground for children.
I decided to make a stop by this brasserie to have a dinner tonight, where I had breakfast during my last transit here.
I grabbed one free table near to the bay windows !
I´m very impressed by Vienna Airport's architecture. It looks to be the most awesome airport architectures in Europe. I really enjoy it.
Here, is my boarding pass for tonight's flight.
I ordered one beer and one pasta dish. All was very tasty.
Cheers to all reporters !
A billboard is available in the restaurant to look forward for your flight's status. In my case, flight LX1597 to Geneva is scheduled to leave from gate F22.
After my dinner was cleared, I quickly left the restaurant to proceed to my gate.
It is a bit long walking to reach gate F22 from the restaurant.
Here we are, gate F22 !
Just 4 minutes after reaching the boarding area boarding for my zone was called.
ABOUT THE AIRCRAFT
Airbus A220 is a Canadian aircraft built in Mirabel. It was previously known as Bombardier CSeries according to its original manufacturer, before Airbus acquired a majority in the program. The Airbus A220 family is splitted in two different versions: A220-100 (formerly CS100), with a capacity of 110 passengers, and the A220-300 (CS300), which can receive up to 150 passengers. It is powered by two PW1500G engines.
Today's aircraft is HB-JCH, a 5,1 years old (at the time of flying) Airbus A220-300 delivered to Swiss in March 2018. It has a capacity of 150 passengers.
Upon boarding the aircraft were kindly welcomed by a very friendly cabin crew, I told them my pleasure to fly the Airbus A220 for the first time !
CABIN OF THE AIRBUS A220-300
So I discover for the first time the cabin of the Swiss Airbus A220, which feels rather awesome.
All Airbus A220 cabin are displayed in a 3/2 configuration, which is very comfortable when traveling as a couple or with a friend or member of family.
Since I realized too early that the ground staff at SPU only changed my seat for the Austrian flight, I've quickly got to my seat 21D. So, I waited that boarding was cleared to grab the window seat on my row which was still empty.
Unlike on Air France's Airbus A220s, headrests on Swiss ones'seats are not adjustable.
The seatbacks are embellished with a layer of metal. This is a very nice touch on Swiss A220 cabins.
Here is the view from the window seat next to me on an Austrian Airlines aircraft.
The oval-shaped windows on Airbus A220s looks very original and modern.
Another nice touch, Swiss Airbus A220s features one small IFE screen on each triplet.
Legroom pitch is okay for this 1 hour 30 mins flight.
Each seat is equipped with two small pockets located on both sides of the central artery.
Let's take a look at the seatback content : security cards which are updated and features A220-300 instead of Bombardier CS300.
The seats on Swiss A220s looks quite comfortable even if it seems very slim at first sight.
THE FLIGHT
We pushed back at 8:16 p.m. with a few minutes in advance among the several aircrafts of Austrian Airlines. It is the occasion to hear the typical sound of the PW1500G engines when it starts up.
Just ten minutes behind pushing back we took off at 8:25 p.m. with some beautiful views of Vienna
Let's keep up our look at the seatback pocket content. On Swiss European flights in Economy class, like with most of other Lufthansa group airlines, just one small bottle of water and one branded chocolate bar are provided as a complimentary service. You can also purchase some snack items from the "Swiss Saveurs" BoB menu. A dutyfree magazine is also available.
During the service, cabin crew talked about a discounted service of anti-waste food, at 8 CHF.
Let's take time for a loo tour. The toilets looks very modern and clean.
The last row of the cabin is out of use, maybe it is reserved for cabin crew.
After getting back to my seat, let's enjoy the beautiful sunset view.
Somewhere over Bavaria in Germany, if someone knows about what is the city in the second picture, please let me know in the comments.
As I said previously, a milk chocolate bar was provided for free to each passenger. In my case, the cabin crew will give several additional chocolates, which is a very good attention 😇
The chocolate bars seems quite tasty, even if I personally prefer dark chocolate.🍫
ARRIVAL AT GVA
The descent was already far advanced when we acrossed Léman Lake to reach Geneva city.
We turned right at south of the city to go up towards Cointrin and position for the final approach.
We touched down at GVA shortly after 9:40 p.m. and quickly reached our parking, near to an EasyJet Airbus A319 or 320 aircraft.
Since we were parked at a remote stand we had to take a bus shuttle to get to the terminal.
Let's take leave of our very friendly cabin crew to get on the bus ride to the terminal. Hope to see you again Airbus A220 !
The ride was very smooth to reach the terminal. Since the battery of my mobile phone were running very low, I needed to find a socket to recharge it, which I have to say is a challenge in the arrivals area.
Thank you for stopping by, see you soon for future reviews
