In Photos: SWISS Presents Its First Airbus A350 in Zurich

‍ZURICH — On October 14, 2025, SWISS (LX), the national carrier of Switzerland, officially presented its first Airbus A350-900. Airways attended the celebrations at the airline’s maintenance facilities at Zurich Airport (ZRH), where Stan Wawrinka served as ‘godparent’ for the naming of SWISS’s first next-gen aircraft.

The Lufthansa group ordered LX’s first five Airbus A350-900s in 2019. In December 2024, SWISS doubled its order for the A350-900. On Thursday, October 9, LX welcomed its first A350-900 in Zurich with the traditional water cannon salute.

Guete Morge from Zurich

Today, LX showcased HB-IFA, the very first unit to join its fleet. Following speeches from SWISS’s top management, the aircraft’s name, Lausanne, was unveiled to the media audience with its ‘godparents’: Swiss tennis star Stan Wawrinka, who was born and raised in Lausanne, and aviation fan Rayan Favre, the winner of a contest from SWISS.

“I’m incredibly proud to be godfather to SWISS’s first Airbus A350, especially as it now bears the name of my hometown,” Stan Wawrinka said. “That means so much to me, and I feel honored to have played my part in this milestone for SWISS. I can hardly wait to fly on ‘my’ A350 and experience it all for myself.”

SWISS plans to replace its entire A340 fleet by 2031 with the Airbus A350-900, cutting fuel consumption and noise emissions, and improving all aspects of the passenger experience across all travel classes. The investment programme is worth CHF 1 billion a year in new aircraft, the latest cabins, digital innovations, and more sustainable technologies.

“These investments represent a clear commitment to our future and to our mission as Switzerland’s leading airline,” CEO Fehlinger continues. “With the Airbus A350 and our new cabin interior, we’re investing not just in comfort but also in making air travel as sustainable as possible. Because we want SWISS to be the airline that Switzerland is proud of in 10 or 20 years, too.”

Besides all the standard innovations that the A350-900 brings to LX’s fleet, HB-IFA is also the first to feature the airline’s latest cabin interior.

“I’m incredibly proud to be godfather to SWISS’s first Airbus A350, especially as it now bears the name of my hometown,” Stan Wawrinka said. “That means so much to me, and I feel honored to have played my part in this milestone for SWISS. I can hardly wait to fly on ‘my’ A350 and experience it all for myself.”

SWISS will retrofit all its fleet with the brand new cabin, based on the Allegris concept from Lufthansa, which LX heavily customised. The color scheme, materials, and lighting will be installed first on the Airbus A330.

In line with LX’s tradition, the first A350 features a special livery celebrating Switzerland. The livery, ‘SWISS Wanderlust’, was designed to spotlight Switzerland’s heritage, culture, and landmarks as illustrated by Swiss artist Frédéric Siegel, who is well known for his unique illustrations and animations.

The fuselage showcases several motifs, from the Art Basel show to Bern’s skyline, from Geneva’s landmarks to the Locarno Film Festival.

“This special livery is our flying declaration of our love for Switzerland,” says SWISS Chief Commercial Officer Heike Birlenbach. “It’s a confirmation of how close we feel to our home country, and it’s an invitation to everyone to discover and explore it in all its uniqueness in a playful and creative way. We’re proud to present Switzerland in all its diversity all over the world in such a special way.”

Welcome Aboard

Our tour began at the rear of the aircraft. We boarded through door 4L and walked through the main Economy Class cabin. Each seat is equipped with a 13.3” 4K OLED in-flight-entertainment display, a six-way adjustable headrest, Bluetooth connectivity, and USB A and USB C chargers.

The cabin features 140 seats in a 3-3-3 layout, with 16 additional seats available before doors 3, at the end of the Premium Economy Class, for a total of 156 seats.

Almost a third of the cabins are dedicated to premium cabins. Meeting growing demand, LX has installed 38 Premium Economy seats, more than in any other aircraft in its fleet.

The seats are arranged in a 2-3-2 layout and feature larger IFE screens, more legroom, and significantly wider seats. Instead of traditional recline, the seats are encapsulated in a hard shell and slide forward.

A reading light is embedded in the privacy divider, and controls for the reclining mechanism and footrest are housed in the armrest. Both the IFE screen and tray table are stored in front, maximizing the seat’s width.

In Business Class, LX has installed five different types of seats, for a total of 45, divided into two similarly sized cabins. The Classic Seat can be considered as the standard product, with a 17.3” 4K OLED screen, aisle access, seat heating and cooling, a tablet to control the IFE system, and direct aisle access.

The Privacy seat features similar specs but is positioned away from the aisle and closer to the fuselage. These seats come with up to two private windows, while the Classic seat, despite being closer to the aisle, also comes with its own window.

In the middle of the cabin, the Extra Long Bed seat is comparable to the Classic seat, except for its ultra-long reclining length of 2.20 m.

This was made possible due to the central seat, named the Extra Space seat, requiring aisle access from one side of the cabin. Exactly in the middle of the cabin, the central seat comes with additional storage and privacy and a larger, 24” IFE screen. 

Last but not least, the A350-900 is equipped with a total of eight Business Suites. At the front of each business class cabin, the four front seats come with sliding doors, larger IFE scree and extra dividers between the couple of middle seats.

At the front of the cabin, SWISS offers a totally new concept, with an almost fully enclosed suite. The two window suites feature a seat width of 86 cm, bed length of 2 m and a 32” IFE screen. The suites are completed by a large wardrobe, ambient light and sliding walls for a fully enclosed cabin.

The central seat, the Suite Plus, features arguably the widest seat in the skies at 123 cm, 3.7 squared metres of personal space and a 43” IFE screen. The suite is also fully enclosed and can be combined with the 1A Suite to create the First Grand Suite, linking the two seats by a private aisle.

HB-IFA will commence commercial service from Zurich to Palma de Mallorca on October 25, before its first flight over the Atlantic Ocean on November 20. Thanks to the SWISS team for having us today!