DXB-ZRH

Somewhat disconcertingly, the Swiss app had been showing my flight as ‘boarding complete’ for the entirety of the day before the actual departure. This was unnerving enough for me to triple check I’d got my dates and times right – always slightly challenging with a very early morning departure time. Having been unable to generate mobile BPs, I guestimated the time that the check-in desks would open (having been unable to find the official time anywhere on the Swiss website), and so arrived at DXB’s Terminal 1 a little over three hours before departure at around 21:45 local time. I headed to the single Swiss First and HON Circle desk first, from where I was escorted all the way to the front of the queue for immigration. From there I was on my own to go through security (where there was no Fast Track but also no queue) and catch the automated people mover over to Concourse D.

My first stop was the Lufthansa lounge located on the level above the main concourse. This lounge is split at reception between a Business lounge straight ahead and a Senator lounge to the right with shared washrooms, showers and lockers in the middle. Sadly, unlike some of the Lufthansa Group’s outstation lounges in the US, there is no First Class lounge or dedicated area.











I stuck to the supposedly more premium and slightly larger Senator lounge, a simple square-ish room with a mix of high-top table, dining and armchair seating (with plenty of power sockets) all in the signature Lufthansa design palette. A small business nook and printer is located immediately to the right as you enter, and there are a few relaxation lounge chairs in the far left hand corner. The buffet was still being set up for the evening flights as I arrived and looked to have an average selection of cold and hot options.















I didn’t stick around for long, however, as Swiss First passengers are also invited to use the third party Ahlan First Class lounge, just a few minutes’ stroll down the corridor. Operated by Dubai International Hotel, the lounge is similar in style to Emirates lounges and is a much larger space than the Lufthansa lounge, although suffers from the same lack of outside view (all views being internal to the terminal).





From reception, a long corridor is home either side to a paid-for Timeless Spa, washrooms, showers (two for each gender), smoking room, prayer room and play area. The washrooms and showers were clean but are reasonably basic with unbranded amenities; the latter featured some particularly horrid wire clothes hangers, but were suitably bright and had all the necessary features such as a hairdryer, bath mat and towels. I was proactively offered a dental and shaving kit when requesting a shower (only for photographic purposes).





At the top of the corridor, the main lounge space is a square focusing mainly on the buffet, semi-open kitchen and dining seating. The buffet was far more extensive than Lufthansa’s offering, and everything looked of pretty decent quality, with some notably attractive desserts.

















I can’t vouch for how the buffet food tasted, however, as the only thing I ate came from the à la carte menu, which was offered to me in either physical or QR code form as soon as I sat down, along with my choice of drink. I chose the dim sum basket, which was a perfect snack before my flight. Service was attentive throughout the lounge, with the staff quick to clear empties and eager to receive that all-important TripAdvisor feedback.





Around the corner from the main dining area is a comfortable lounge area with individual armchair seating arranged in pairs; seats here all featured power sockets within each side table.



Additional armchair seating is available in front of the tended bar, beyond which is a secondary lounge area including a couple of massage chairs at the very far end. You might notice a mop in one of the photos below – this was needed because one very careless passenger (who shall remain nameless) knocked and consequently smashed his glass of water all over the floor.







Whilst not the most luxurious of spaces (and a far cry from the Swiss First lounges), the Ahlan First Class lounge offered a decent space to wait for my flight and was very quiet after flights to Doha and Riyadh had been called via the automated system which announces all T1 departures. Whilst Swiss send only their First passengers here, other airlines such as Qatar Airways and Saudia permit all of their premium class passengers to use the lounge, hence why at some times the space may be busier than others.

Boarding at Gate D20 took a short while to get started, but when it did it was an orderly affair with First and HON Circle members invited to board first through the combined First and Business lane. Whilst the gate was equipped with two airbridges, only one to Door 2L was in use. I was welcomed onboard at the door and found my own way to my seat – back in familiar 2K, having moved at online check-in from 1A to benefit from the overhead air vents. HB-JHE, an A330-300 delivered new to Swiss in 2010, was the aircraft flying us back to ZRH that night. Clothes hangers had been pre-placed on my seat’s ottoman, with headphones (a slightly older style to those on the outbound flight) located in the side storage compartment and PJs and amenity kits offered by the crew shortly after, along with my choice of pre-departure drink. My chosen champagne was served alongside a bottle of Swiss-branded water on a smart metal tray.





Given the short flight time and late hour of departure, I changed into PJs in the washroom before pushback (although as always for safety reasons keeping my shoes on until after takeoff). Upon returning to my seat, the friendly crew served a salmon amuse bouche and bread sticks.



Menus were shortly offered and dinner orders taken, with each option being explained – an additional unlisted main course was also available as a ‘special’. The wine list was the same as the outbound flight. A hot towel completed the pre-departure service, just as the Maître de Cabine was announcing our flight time of 6h30; he also stopped by each passenger in the First cabin for a personal introduction.











Once we were airborne, the friendly but slightly rushed cabin crew handed out wifi vouchers and were soon laying tables for those passengers who wanted to eat. Normally I wouldn’t eat in the air on such a late (or early) departure, but I was keen to sample the Swiss First outstation catering.





A personal bread basket featuring three different types of warm bread was offered, along with butter and olive oil. The tabbouleh salad with seared scallop and tomato hummus was fresh but pretty average, although I was pleased to be offered more bread without asking.





The roasted pepper soup with Parmesan crisps was hot and comforting, but not overly flavourful.





I went off-piste for my main course and chose the ‘special’ pork tart; this was nicely flavoured but quite small portion-wise, and so I also asked for the vegetables from the chicken main course. The French red (Château Pontet-Canet 2014) was pleasant.







The pineapple crumble tartlet was the undoubted highlight of dinner, accompanied by a glass of Graham’s Tawny 20-year-old port.





Chocolates were offered from a selection box to end the service, which I enjoyed along with a mint tea. A bottle of water was placed by my seat as part of the turndown service, which was proactively offered.



3 hours of comfortable rest later (during which I was very thankful for the personal air vents), I was woken by the crew with the offer of an espresso and a hot towel. Instead of contorting myself in the washroom to change out of my PJs, the crew offered the use of the Door 1L area behind the privacy of a curtain; I wish this was possible on all flights!



A selection of continental breakfast items were offered from a tray, with hot options delivered by hand from the galley. Knowing the delights of the Swiss First lounges awaited in ZRH, I just opted for the fresh fruit and Bircher muesli, along with a bakery basket.







We arrived onto stand in ZRH at Gate E23, with connecting gate information displayed on the IFE screens for those passengers departing within the next few hours. As you would expect, I had scheduled a significant layover to take full advantage of the excellent Swiss First ground experience, which started with private disembarkation through a dedicated airbridge to Door 1L and all First passengers being collectively met by ground staff ready to drive them over to A Gates (in a shared minibus). With plenty of time before my flight to LHR, I declined this service and instead made my own way through the E Gates connections security and up to the FCL E.