amolkold

LX 138
ZRH-HKG, 12h05m
Airbus A340-300
Seat 2K, F

Boarding was called and I made my way to the line for First & Business Class, excited to ride in an A340. It’s such a sleek plane and I love the 4 engine look. It may not have the grandeur and elegance of the 747, nor the massive space of the A380, nor the power of a 777, but it’s still a cool plane to fly nonetheless.


SWISS A340-300

Despite two jetways, the door to 1L was closed, so everyone boarded via 2L. Everyone in front of me had “C” all on his or her boarding pass, so as I entered the aircraft with a big “F,” I was given just a bit more attention. “Mr. amolkold, welcome abroad. Please follow me to your seat.”

I turned left after the galley and through the mini J-cabin at the front. Note: if you’re flying LX on the A340 in J, definitely go for this cabin. It looks splendid.

But this is an F report, so no pictures of that.

I walked into the cabin reserved for the first 2 rows and looked in awe. The shells surrounding the seats are bigger than a picture can properly show. Since there are no overhead bins over the center seats, the cabin looks massive.

I took seat 2K, while the woman from the FCL took 2A. At first, I thought it would be just us 2, but we were soon joined by 6 other passengers, which made it a full F class: 8/8. Still, it’s better than 172/172 down the back. Or 8/8 in one row on UA Business. I’m sorry: BusinessFirst.


Seat 2K


Spacious cabin

I was presented with an amenity kit, pajamas, and a glass of champagne alongside a welcome snack. Given the late departure, 10:45pm at ZRH, and between 2:15am and 4:45am for my upcoming destinations, I changed into pajamas before takeoff. They’re made by vanLaack and extremely comfortable … I’m wearing them at home right now! Fully black with a beige inner collar ... I wish it was acceptable to go out in these. The amenity kit is by Bally and has an odd double-zipper design. The amenities inside are the usual fare with some nice lotions and creams that I passed along to family at BOM.


Amenity kit, Laurent-Perrier champagne, and Amuse Bouche (after some of it went into my bouche)

Despite the 4-engined A340, it has one of the slowest takeoff rolls of any widely used aircraft. It took about 65 seconds on this try.

Soon after takeoff, the Maître de Cabine and 2 other First FAs began service. I asked for turndown service rather than the meal, especially since I had just eaten in the FCL. Despite this being the “old” product, the bed is mighty comfortable, and even without a suite format (no doors or walls shielding you from the rest of the cabin), I didn’t feel any bother at all from the dinner service for the other 7 passengers. The provided eyeshade and earplugs helped a lot in getting more than 5 hours of solid sleep.

Upon waking up, one of the F FAs was at my seat within a minute to ask if I wanted a sandwich or snack. Instead, I asked if I could be served a late dinner (despite it being 4am in Zurich and 10am in Hong Kong, it was 7pm in L.A.). Of course, I “asked” politely yet meant it as an “I’m not forgoing a first class dinner just because I wanted to sleep beforehand” inside.

Not to fear, some choices I was eyeing were still available, and I had a private dinner service.

The Swiss First Menu is a 20-page booklet showcasing meals, cheeses, and wines. Of course, the meal portion is given in 4 languages (English, German, French, and Chinese) so that adds to the length.


Table setting

I was interested in almost all of them, but only the salmon and salad were still available. At least it helped narrow down my decision. The Balik salmon was absolutely delightful – tender and moist, especially with the sour cream, and paired with the Portuguese white wine. The salad seemed a bit dry (though maybe that’s just my American taste).


Look at the size of those salt+pepper shakers!


Balik salmon


Leaves



I was torn between the sea bass and chicken breast and eventually decided on the latter. Again, I was satisfied with the decision.



Leave it to LX to have an amazing selection. By far, this was the best part of the meal. I savored each and every bite alongside the dessert wine for the night, the Inniskillin Icewine from Niagara. Interweaving flavors of Valle Maggia and Ticino Mutschli with peach aromas and marmalade overtones … oh goodness, I’m drooling all over my keyboard.


Heavenly

Stuffed already, I skipped the desserts, which had the following choices:

I finished my meal somewhere above India, with the plane on course for BOM. If I didn’t know that LX runs A330s with new F to BOM, I’d have thought I was on the wrong flight. Or maybe LX knew I was being a mileage-maximizing idiot and was going to kick me out over Bombay with a parachute.


It would cost me 40,000 more miles to end my trip here

The A340 F has a smaller IFE screen than the newer A330 F, and the selection isn’t all that great. But the bed is still downright comfortable, so I went back to sleep for a couple more hours, getting a full night’s rest on just one flight.

I woke up and saw that a couple of passengers in row 1 were starting their breakfast service. The MdC came by within a few seconds and asked what I wanted for breakfast. I'd like to note that although it's 8am in ZRH at this time in the flight, it's already 2pm at the destination. But I just ate dinner 3.5 hours ago so who cares? I just ended up going a little light on the breakfast. I was given a small smoothie which was great.






One of the awkward things about flying First or Business is the whole window situation. I love window seats, even in Economy. When I'm flying in the back, I'll usually have just 1 window, maybe 2 if I'm lucky. Because seats are closer together, the light only shines on one row, maybe two. If it's an emptier cabin, you're not bothering people if you keep your shade a little bit open.

But in F, you have 4 windows until the seat in front of you. A small crack of the window shade invites the sun into all parts of the cabin as it freely enters. Despite it being 9:30am at our origin and 3:30pm at our destination, a few pax were still asleep, which made looking out kind of tough.

But I still took pictures.




With preparations finished for landing, the MdC came by to thank each passenger by name for flying SWISS. I thanked her for an excellent flight.

I've flown into the new HKG plenty of times but I still miss the old Kai Tak approach. That was a thrill, even if I only remember it a couple of times. We arrived from the west underneath a cloud cover and light drizzle.


Wall design at the back of the cabin, with a Swiss cross on ZRH


Good seats for a couple, but I'd stick with A/K seats for a single travelers

Upon arrival at HKG, F deboarded via a F-only jetway at 1L. I was greeted by a personal escort with my name on a tag. Rather than wait in line at immigration for about 10-15 minutes, I was taken to a side entrance, where my passport was processed within a few minutes. From there, I was escorted to baggage claim, though I’m sure I could have found the way myself.


"No entry" is just a "suggestion"