warakorn

Swiss Global runs a daily rotation between Zurich and Hong Kong (LX 138). Recently the equipment was upgauged from a Swiss Airbus A340-300 to a Swiss Global Boeing 777-300ER.
The upgauge apparently didn't help Swiss with its load factors. The Economy cabin was only 50-60% full.
I had a full row of 4 seats to myself in the middle. About 3 hours before I've moved to 2 free seats at the window.
Well, I couldn't notice any difference service-wise between a Swiss and Swiss Global crew. But hey, what difference does it make in Economy?

Here are some metadata about the flight:

Flight: Swiss Global Air Lines LX 138
Departure from: Zürich Airport Kloten, Terminal E, ZRH, Switzerland,
Take-off from: Runway 34, length 3,700 m / 12,139 ft
Arrival: Hong Kong International Airport, HKG, China
Landing on: Runway 07L; length 3,800 m / 12,467 ft
Distance: 5,776 miles / 9,296 km
Duration: 11 hours and 32 minutes
Travel Class: Economy Class
Lounges at ZRH: Swiss Senator Lounge Dock E
Passenger load: approx. 50% (full row of 4 seats for myself)
Pitch: 32 inches
Width: 17.3 inches
Plane: Boeing 777-300ER
Registration: HB-JNB
Delivered to Swiss Global: March 2016
Engines: 2 x General Electric GE90-115B
Take-Off Thrust: 115,540 lbf each
Route: Innsbruck, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest, Mangalia/Romania, Black Sea, Tiflis, Baku, Caspian Sea,
Ashgabat/Turkmenistan, Kandahar/Afghanistan, Multan/Pakistan, Delhi, Lucknow/India, Himalaya (seen from the south),
Dhaka/Bangladesh, Mandalay/Myanmar, Kunming/Yunnan, Nanning/Guangxi


Here is the full travel video:


Direct link to the video:

I've spent a week in Canton Zug near Lake Zug during some sunny days (I love Switzerland):

















Taking the empty SBB InterCity train from Canton Zug to Zurich Airport:











Taking the empty Heidebahn between Terminal A and Terminal E:







Entering the deserted Swiss Senator Lounge in Terminal E:









Lounge Terrace with good views over the appron and the Alps to the south:





A Swiss Boeing 777-300ER arriving from San Francisco:









Sunset dinner:









Swiss Senator Lounge stays very quiet in the evening, as well:









The famous bar:





Some last snack before the longhaul flight:





And a complimentary shower to freshen up:





Walking towards our gate:





Our bird to Hong Kong (Swiss Global Boeing 777-300ER HB-JNB):





Massive General Electric GE90-115B engine:





Exploring the Swiss Economy cabin (in 3-4-3 configuration):







Seat pitch is allright with 32 inches:





These are my four seats for the flight; its my cheap flatbed (cabin was only filled to 50%):







At take off (its night and its raining, so I stayed at my four seats):





Over Austria:







Complimentary hot dinner, served 60 minutes after take off (pretty quick, but no wonder in an empty cabin):





Mood Lighting at full swing (recorded throughout the flight):













Avoiding the airspace of Ukraine (LX takes quite a southern detour via India to get to HKG; it should be faster via Russia):





Snacks and drinks in the mid-galley :







Aft galley:





Over Turkmenistan with overcast:







Entering Afghanistan airspace:





Rough landscape of Afghanistan:











Boeing 777-300ER Horizontal Stabilizer:







Border region Afghanistan/Pakistan (not a place for desert tourism):







Entering Indian airspace:





Himalayas in the background:









Could that be Mt. Everest?





Border between Myanmar and China:







Breakfast is served around 3 hours before landing:







Mekong:





Red River Valley:





Kunming, Yunnan Province:







Karst mountain areas around Guilin, Guangxi Province:









Getting closer to Hong Kong:







We are put into a stack before being allowed to approach HKG:















Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge:





Approaching HKG Runway 07L:





Spoilers:





Welcome to Hong Kong:





Our bird resting in HKG:





HKG at landside:





First crowds in China at HKG:





Enjoying Hong Kong around Repulse Bay:









Here is again the full travel video:


Direct link to the video:
Enjoy!


All my trip reports on FT:

Airbus:

Iberia Airbus A340-600 London - Madrid in Y

Air Caraibes Airbus A350-900 Guadeloupe - Paris in Y

Empty Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - London Heathrow in Y+ and AY Lounge Sauna

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - Shanghai in Y+

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong - Helsinki in Y+

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-800 Singapore - New Delhi in Upper Deck Y

British Airways Airbus A380-800 Singapore - London Heathrow in Y



Boeing:

Asiana Boeing 747-400 Combi Tokyo - Seoul in F

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Montreal - Cancun in Y+

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Cancun - Toronto in Y

United Boeing 777-200ER Houston - Newark - Amsterdam in C

United Boeing 777-200ER Amsterdam - Houston in Y+

United Boeing 777-200ER Singapore - Hongkong in C

British Airways Boeing 777-300ER London - Shanghai in Y

ANA Boeing 777-300ER Singapore - Tokyo in C

Swiss Boeing 777-300ER Zurich - Hong Kong in Y

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong - Singapore in Y

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Sint Maarten - Curacao in P

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Curacao - Amsterdam in P

Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Toronto - London in Y

ANA Boeing 787-8 Shanghai Pudong - Tokyo Narita in C

United Boeing 787-9 Los Angeles - Houston in C



Trains:

CFR Calatori Bucharest - Istanbul Halkali in Sleeper Car

EuroNight Jan Kiepura Cologne - Warsaw in Sleeper Cabin

China High Speed Rail Shanghai - Xiamen in F

Caledonian Sleeper Train Inverness - London Euston in Sleeper Cabin

French TGV High Speed Train: Barcelona - Paris in F

China High Speed Rail Guangzhou - Shanghai Hongqiao in Y

Swiss Railways Lötschberg Mountain Line Bern - Brig in F

Ukraine Railways Kiev - Budapest in Sleeper Cabin

Virgin Trains West Coast London - Glasgow in F



Lounges:

Five Star Alliance Lounges: LHR

Four OneWorld Lounges: HKG

TBIT Star Alliance Lounge: LAX



Enjoy!

quirrow

Nice views of the route taken. Seems you were lucky to get a relatively empty flight for the long haul, and get a nice view of Himalayas too!

obduro

Not a bad way to fly, especially when you've got a row to yourself! Thanks for sharing as always!

injian

love it when you get an entire row to yourself in Y.

thanks for sharing!

moondog

Well done!^

djjaguar64

Nice pictures but it looks pretty tight in Y. We will be on this bird in April ZRH to YYZ albeit in J class. Look forward to it. LX is a great airline.

CHOPCHOP767

I had a chuckle at the title of the TR: 'View of Afghanistan'. Trust me when I say the view from 35K feet is much better than the view on the ground

djjaguar64

deleted

Schwann

Great report! Always good to have a row to yourself. Quite surprised at the southernly routing on the way back! Is that normal for ZRH-HKG?

CurbedEnthusiasm

That 10 abreast Y cabin looks like it would be absolutely dreadful at anything more than 50% capacity.

fivevsone

great pictures of the route you took. really enjoyed reading it.
thanks,
t

warakorn

Yes, LX flies to HKG via India. It seems that LX did not get the permission (or do not want to pay) for flying via Black Sea, Caspian See, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang. They PVG flight has this track.
Moreover, ZRH seems to be too much south to take the northerly Russia routing (ideal routing would be via Ukraine, but that airspace is avoided).

djjaguar64

I have to concur!

Bretteee

Swiss Global? What is this?

At least no lettuce as a starter which is now standard on Swiss. I am impressed.

warakorn

It's basically a scheme to overrule Airbus longhaul pilots.

I will quote from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Global_Air_Lines