Review of SWISS flight Stockholm → Zurich in Economy

Hello everyone and welcome to another short series, consisting of two shorter flights. The series will cover a trip down to southwestern Germany (via ZRH) during my Easter holidays in 2017. This first part will include the report from Stockholm to Zürich while the subsequent part should take care of the flight from Zürich to Stockholm.

Background:

Me and Martin1405 have been friends for several years, and have been in touch with each other on a regular basis over the period. Martin1405 managed to visit me in Stockholm back in August 2016 and I definitely appreciated your visit here :). Talks about me visiting him were becoming more serious after he went back to Germany, with many discussions becoming active. Some time passes and finally all parties agree on the conclusion that a trip to Martin1405 during my Easter holidays should work. I look for tickets and soon enough a fare of EUR 143 is found, which happened to be an itinerary made of two non-stop flights between Stockholm and Zürich. The fare was only found at one online agency, it was at least EUR 30-40 more expensive on other sites. I had a few discussions with my parents, before booking these flights for EUR 143. My oldest sister had not given me a birthday present yet, and insisted on being responsible for the payment of this ticket instead. Thank you very much sister :).

The ticket consisted of a Swiss flight from ARN to ZRH with SAS being responsible for the ZRH-ARN flight. The SAS part of the flight included a checked bag while the LX part did not, therefore I purchased a piece of luggage on the LX leg for EUR 15, making it EUR 158 in total. LX both ways would have cost at least EUR 300 on these days, and other airlines were faring for EUR 140+ (without bags, would me much more with bags). The only airline with a cheaper fare with bags was Ukraine International Airlines. I thought it would be interesting to fly with PS but unfortunately that fare involved a 04:50 AM departure from ARN, something my parents were not fond of. Anyway, it would be LX and SK (unfortunately for the latter) and I would be visiting Martin1405. He lives in the southwestern parts (Baden-Württemberg) of Germany, close to several countries like Switzerland, France, Austria and Liechtenstein (Italy is not too far away either) which means you don't have to travel far away to visit a lot of different places in different countries around his place. The region is diverse and several stunning areas are not too far away, you can see a lot of exciting things there unlike my place. It was definitely exciting, and this would also be my first time flying by myself without a travel partner.

Itinerary

Part 1 - ARN-ZRH, LX1255, Swiss International Air Lines, Airbus Industrie A321, HB-IOD - You are here
Part 2 - ZRH-ARN, SK606, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Boeing 737-800 (originally 737-700), LN-RGB - Here

Online check-in for Swiss is available 23 hours before departure, which would be 20:35 the night before for my flight. I checked in a few minutes after online check-in opened (at around 20:40) and this is what I saw. All the seats up front were occupied but there were a few available seats in the back of the plane. I ended up choosing 34A, note that all seats in my row were occupied while I checked in.


My flight was scheduled to depart on a Friday. I had school this day until 14:45, thankfully Fridays are one of my shorter school days. The plan was to go home quickly, do a few final checks and then head out to the airport. I was originally going to take the airport coaches to the airport (Flygbussarna) from the place I live at, however my dad couldn't go to work this day so he offered to drop me off instead.


My school ended at 14:45 and I went home rather quickly. However, I was struck with bad news as soon as I entered our house. There had been an attack in the city centre, with a hijacked truck. Five people have been killed and several have been injured. I had several relatives present in the centre at this time. The majority of them were stuck as roads had been closed off, the metro had closed down, bus lines in the centre were cancelled or delayed and more. It was a weird feeling to have this attack in my hometown, it was even more weird that I was flying out on this same day. RIP to the persons who lost their lives in this attack (and all other attacks worldwide) :(. 7 April 2017, a sad day for Sweden and Stockholm :(.


The metro is confirmed as being closed according to the SL website (public transport operator in Stockholm). All stations were being evacuated.


All trains through the centre were cancelled, including the Arlanda Express trains. This was alarming as I know Marathon usually takes the express to ARN on Fridays for his AF1063 flight at 19:25 (compared to my 19:35 departure).


All bus services by Flygbussarna (Airport Coaches) in Stockholm were also temporarily suspended. However, the line between Bromma and ARN didn't seem to be affected by this and thankfully Marathon was able to take one of these buses to the airport.


Afterwards, I finished my final checks, had an early dinner and headed outside with a weird feeling due to the attack.


The things accompanying me on this trip was this medium-sized bag, a backpack and a smaller camera bag.


My dad starts the car at 17:04 local time and we're on our way to the airport. I am glad to live in the northern parts of Stockholm, the side that wasn't affected too much by the attack.


Heading towards the E4 freeway.


Entering the E4 towards Arlanda Airport.


A lighter traffic jam is encountered, the flow was moving at 10-30 km/h with a few standstills every now and then.


Driving through Upplands Väsby in the northern outskirts.


Now the freeway only consists of two lanes in each direction.


The jam only lasted for 9km on our side, but then there was congestion on the opposite side towards the city centre.


The exit to the airport is soon found where around half of the remaining cars on the road exited. This is the last stop in the Stockholm area, before you head towards the city of Uppsala.


Swiss operates from Terminal 5 at Arlanda and my dad headed towards that terminal. Air France operates from Terminal 2, the airline Marathon was taking the same evening.


To the departures level.


I bid farewell to my parents and then walk towards the terminal building.


Inside the terminal.


A bad shot of several flight information display screens.


Swiss uses SK's check-in desks at ARN, which are desks 71-90.


Printing out an additional boarding pass using one of these kiosks.


The Swiss check-in is done by Lufthansa's systems.


Once the spare BP is collected, I head towards the bag drop at desks 71-90. The bag was dropped quickly and efficiently with a friendly agent, the backpack and the camera bag were left to give me some company.


I then head to the SkyCity area, to see if there is something I can spot there.


The lighting conditions are not optimal here at this time, combined with my mediocre photography skills. Nonetheless, here is a Norwegian 787-8.


After the previous picture was taken, Marathon's bus arrived and we met up at Terminal 5 before heading to SkyCity. My LX1255 flight was delayed until 20:00, but with a 19:30-ish arrival (18:55 scheduled) from ZRH that was unlikely. I doubted it would depart before 20:20. Meanwhile, Marathon's AF1063 flight to CDG was estimated to land at 18:53 (18:30 scheduled) which would most likely also result in a delayed departure (albeit not as bad as LX1255).


Marathon offered me coffee and we had a chat for a while before we walked to our respective terminals. You really did not have to but thank you very much, it was extremely kind of you :). Next time, I'll offer you :). I would also suggest you to check out his page Here for the English page or Here for the French page. The AF1063 report can be found here, I recommend reading it even if it is in French.


At around 18:43, we leave Skycity and I walk towards one of the security checks at T5. There were several officers with automatic rifles in the airport, something I had never seen in Sweden before.


There are two security checkpoints at Terminal, a check for gates 11-24 and another check for all gates in this terminal. I chose the security check for gates 11-24 as it is closer to SkyCity. My flight was scheduled to depart from gate 16C.


It took approximately 12 minutes to clear security this time.


Gate 16C, the door for this gate was closed which meant passengers had to find seats outside of the gate area.


LH A320.


Gate 16C.


A few DY B738s.


It is possible to take a bus from gate 10C at Terminal 5 to Terminal 2.


Passport control for gates 17-24, one of the non-Schengen areas at Terminal 5.


Air Berlin A321 arriving from Berlin-Tegel, taxiing to Terminal 2. A much better picture can be found in Marathon's FR


DY B738.


Here is my ride arriving from Zürich, a Swiss A321. 19:34 local time.


A fair amount of passengers had gathered around the closed glass door by gate 16C.


The door for the gate area opened at 19:37 local time. A member of staff was checking a few things on his computer before letting us through to the seating area. Before giving us the green light, the agent asked another agent "What is the flight number, 1255?" to which the other agent replied "Yep, 1255". Afterwards, we were allowed to have a seat at the seating area.

Flight information:

Airline: Swiss International Air Lines

Flight no & route: LX1255 ARN-ZRH

Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A321

Scheduled time of departure (actual): 19:35 (20:31), UTC +2

Scheduled time of arrival (actual): 22:00 (22:25), UTC +2

Scheduled flight time (actual): 2h 25 min (1h 54 min)

My ride to ZRH, a Swiss A321 registered as HB-IOD and delivered to former Swissair back in April 1995.


Priority boarding for flight LX1255 started at approximately 19:50 local time.


Air China A333 heading out to PEK.


Boarding for passengers in Y started a few minutes later, I happened to be close to one of the lines while the boarding announcement came online and just lined up immediately.


LX 321.


Walking through the jetbridge.


Soon inside.


Entering, a few FAs were greeting passengers as we made our way through the cabin.


A quick look at the seats.


The boarding process continued.


Here is a look of the legroom with my camera bag and backpack.


Without any personal belongings. The legroom was sufficient for a flight of this length and the seat comfort was not bad.


Overhead bins. The flight was originally announced as a full flight by the crew but things would turn out to be different later on.


Wing view from seat 34A.


SK 736 and 737, the regulars.


Still boarding at 20:09.


Before boarding was completed, there was a woman who seemed nervous and kept making phone calls. The FAs kept going to the front door, looked out and came back to her before repeating the same process for a few minutes. I suspected it was a passenger who didn't make it to the flight. The flight was originally supposed to be full but there were around a dozen unoccupied seats when boarding was completed, seats that had been occupied while I checked-in online. I guess a lot of people from the city centre and the southern parts missed their flights tonight, due to the heavy traffic and road closures, most of the transportation options were suspended from the centre as well making it even more difficult to get to the airport. I had many relatives who were stuck for a long time in the centre. There could be other reasons for passengers missing their flights but a reason like this didn't seem like a far-fetched thought due to the earlier attack. One of Marathon's colleagues missed his/her flight too, a flight with BA. The middle seat (34B) was left unoccupied, even though it had been occupied at check-in.


Well, what do we have here? I mentioned earlier that Marathon was flying from ARN on flight AF1063 to CDG, on this same day. His ride taxiied out earlier than mine and managed to take a few pictures of my Swiss A321 while taxiing to the runway! These great pictures of my ride are provided by him, thank you very much :). Here is another link to his FR, link to FR


Seatback.


The safety video was soon played on these overhead monitors. 20:21 local time.


Pushback should commence shortly.


DY B738.


Pushback commenced at 20:24.


Thanks I presume.


Taxiing to runway 26.


The last rays of sunlight.


The taxi to runway 26 is short and only lasted for a few minutes.


Lining up with the runway.


Rolling down.


Taking off from rwy 26 at 20:31 local time. AF1063 departed at 20:12 according to FR24.


Banking.


Lights at the airport.


ARN, Märsta, Rosersberg, the E4 freeway and other outskirts in the northen parts.


The E4.


Climbing out.


Märsta.


Stockholm's northern urban area.


Kungsängen and Brunna in the northwestern outskirts with the E18 freeway running between them.


A last look at the northern and western parts of the Stockholm area. I apologize for the horrible quality of these night shots.


The battery time of my phone is terrible, I usually bring my powerbank with me in order to provide the phone with some juice to keep it alive until the end of the day. On this flight, I also shared it with the passenger seated at 35C.


Safety card of this A321.


Waste bag.


Special offers from the store.


Swiss magazine, with London on the cover.


The service was conducted at approximately 20:53 local time, 22 minutes after departure. LX served a hot snack, namely a quiche. My drinks of choice were OJ and water.


It was rather tasty but the quantity can't be compared to the full meal Marathon was enjoying on his flight to CDG (in Y).


This is without a doubt my favourite aircraft type in the whole fleet, Fokker 100.


Flight information with a map was displayed on these overhead monitors, it was definitely appreciated.


Passing the Swedish city of Malmö.


Fortunately the FAs walked down the aisles offering a second piece of quiche and I gladly accepted another one. However, still not as good as Air France but it made my stomach decently satisfied for the time being.


The tray table.


The Swiss shop had a few model planes available for purchase but I could not find any 1:500 planes, the scale I collect in.


Window.


Coat hook.


Armrest.


The remainder of the flight was spent listening to music. It was rather enjoyable as the middle seat was unoccupied.


A quick visit to the lavatory in the back. There was also a lavatory in the middle of the aircraft.


The flight attendants were handing out pieces of chocolate when I walked back to row 34, we were closing in on ZRH.


I asked if I could have two of these and the FA nodded positively.


Thanks for tracking my flight Martin1405!


Time passed away quickly, we were already descending. The descent initiated at 22:05.


Lined up with runway 28 at Zürich.


Approaching the runway.


Almost there.


Landed on runway 28 at 22:25 local time.


Taxiing to the terminal.


Pulling up to the gate.


Parked next to a Swiss A320. 22:30 local time.


I waited until the majority of the passengers had left, time wasn't my main concern as I would have to wait for my bag in any case.


Walking through the jetbridge at 22:38.


Goodbye HB-IOD.


The airport looked great on the inside, a stark contrast to ARN…


Walking towards the baggage claim area.


The bag should arrive on belt 27 according to this screen.


My bag arrives rather quickly, I collect it and head out through customs where I meet Martin1405. I am sorry for the delay!


We take a few pictures of the airport before walking to his father's car.


I meet his very kind father before we drive off from ZRH towards Germany. 22:59 local time.


Driving to their house (which is twice the size of my home in Stockholm).


We arrive at their home by 00:10 AM local time, the ride took approximately 1h 11 min. Thank you Martin1405 and to your father for the ride at this time (and thanks for everything else too). Thank you readers for taking your time to read this FR. Have a good one, see you later :).



Bonus:

Hüfingen, Germany


Bräunlingen, Germany.

Road to Donaueschingen (Donaueschinger Str./Bräunlinger Str.).


Plane ride:


Waldshut, Germany:


Freiburg, Germany:


Stuttgart, Germany (And the MB museum):


Rhine falls, Switzerland:


Andermatt and surroundings, Switzerland:



Seelisberg, Switzerland:


Spotting at ZRH:


Zürich, Switzerland: