It was really an extremely short flight from Milan to Zurich and the actual flight time was barely 40 minutes. To receive a sandwich and a full drinks service, even taking into account being in Business Class, was quite impressive. When I turned my attention to the view outside, I was greeted with a slightly cloudy but nevertheless expansive view of the Swiss Alps beneath. It kept me interested for the remainder of the flight, taking photos and enjoying the views of the mountain tops that - it's the summer - only had a little bit of snow on top.
The beef sandwich served in C
Tiny specks of snow in an otherwise green mountain top
A bit more snow at this end
The view would have been even better if it was less cloudy, but I can hardly complain...
In no time at all, it was time to start our descent and the seatbelt sign was turned on, but not before a nice bright red square of Swiss chocolate was handed out. A small but nice touch. We actually flew over Zurich Kloten airport along the way but had to overshoot in order to approach it from the correct direction - at one point, as the aircraft was turning, I got a very nice view of a small river too.
Thank you for flying Swiss!
Zurich Kloten
A sweeping view of the river, some fields and small villages
The landing video is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sC-21Jmp3c
We landed on time at 19:10 and quickly taxied to the gate in Terminal A. My first time in Zurich airport in more than 10 years - it was all quite exciting. Many of the passengers appeared to be on a connecting flight, and I hardly saw anyone waiting for their bags at the belt when I made my way to the baggage reclaim. Thankfully my bags came out very quickly, by 19:25 and I was out past the customs inspection in no time at all.
Overall, considering the very short length of the flight, it was a surprisingly good flight once I left the 80's-style Malpensa airport behind. The aircraft was cute, the service was excellent and the food/beverage was very satisfactory for a 40-minute flight. It was my first encounter with Swiss International Air Lines (I had only flown Swissair previously) and it put me in a very positive mood in preparation for my next flight, the long haul First Class to LAX.
Some more photos:
An Austrian Arrows aircraft parked near ours at ZRH
Our pilot busy with paperwork...
One last look at the Jumbolino
Almost no-one waiting for their bag!