For our return flight in SWISS Economy Class Airbus A340-300 from Singapore to Zurich, I only wrote a short trip report. Details about the aircraft cabin and the seats in SWISS Economy Class can be found in the trip report of the outbound flight.
SWISS offers its guests an early check-in at Singapore Airport (Terminal 2) from 4 p.m. After our arrival with Jetstar Asia from Kuala Lumpur This came in very handy for us. We thought we'd have to wait up to three hours before the 10:55 PM departure for our luggage. What service! But Singapore Airport also has a left luggage facility in every terminal. You can safely store your luggage there for a small fee. When we were printing our boarding passes, I repeatedly asked for an upgrade to business class. But, as I'd already seen online, it was fully booked. So we're flying back to Europe in economy.
We briefly considered whether it would be worth driving into downtown Singapore. However, we decided against it, as the net time would have been too short. So we went through passport control and looked for a lounge. Since Lufthansa and SWISS don't operate their own lounges, our only option was Singapore Airlines' Krisflyer Gold Lounge. Only Star Alliance Gold members are allowed there. Singapore Airlines also offers a separate lounge specifically for Business and First Class passengers.
Krisflyer Gold Lounge – Singapore Airport
The Krisflyer Gold Lounge isn't exactly a bright spot. There's no natural light, nor a dedicated restroom or shower. The only highlights are the food and a Tiger beer tap. Another positive is that the tables are cleared very frequently, so there aren't too many dishes and glasses lying around. The free Wi-Fi is fast enough, but it forces you to log out once an hour. Bottom line: This one doesn't really score highly in our personal lounge rankings. I'd almost say we've got a new bottom-place finisher.
SWISS flight LX 179 to Zurich
We left the lounge shortly after 10 p.m. The walk to Gate E5 was only a five-minute walk, and we arrived right on time for boarding. The Airbus A340-300 (registration HB-JMM) was full, at least in economy class. After a bit of a seat shuffle and two passengers disembarking, boarding was finally completed at 11 p.m. We were seated in seats 25, J and K, in the first economy compartment. These seats are generally a bit quieter, which is especially beneficial on a night flight.
After a ten-minute delay in takeoff, we had to take a major detour due to a thunderstorm over Kuala Lumpur. This delayed our scheduled arrival time in Zurich by 35 minutes. After we had flown well around the storm, the flight attendants began serving dinner. From the handed-out menus, we chose the cheese ravioli with tomato cream sauce and black olives. This was accompanied by smoked salmon with cucumber salad, and chocolate mousse for dessert. The ravioli were very warm and delicious. Afterward, we went to bed and didn't wake up again until just before we reached Istanbul.
The breakfast offered—a cheese omelet with bacon, country fries, and grilled tomatoes—wasn't that tasty. A roll with jam and yogurt and fresh fruit salad was sufficient for us, though. Despite the detour via Malaysia, the landing in Zurich was almost on time at 6:09 a.m. At this point, I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to the Maitre de Cabine and her crew. She was in a great mood, even after a 12-hour flight, and you could tell she truly loves her job.
We arrived at Gate E56 at 6:15 a.m. We hurried to disembark so we could make it to the SWISS Senator Lounge for a refreshing shower.
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