Review of SWISS flight from Milan to Zurich in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello FlightReporters,
As I may have written in past reports last July I've been graduated in Architecture. When my parents told me that they wanted to make me a big present I start thinking about what to ask for, but no ideas came to my mind. Finally, in Autumn, I realized what I wanted: travelling.

My last extra-Europe travel happened in August 2019, when I visited Vietnam and Cambodia. After the long Covid period I needed a taste of normality: getting on a plane, having my passport stamped, changing moneys, hearing other languages and tasting unusual dishes.

Around October I took a look to prices for planes and hotels and I finally found a destination: Dubai.
I chose to travel there the first week of March, in order to be free from exams and at the same time experience the Universal Exposition Expo 2020. For a young (future) architect like me an event like Expo is like a Disneyland for a child. Moreover in 2015 I worked as a volunteer at Expo Milano 2015 and I really appreciated the international appeal of this event.

I ask a dear friend of mine to come with me and she immediately agrees. We set these date: 27th Febraury to 5th March.

Booking options

First of all we had to choose flights
Since we wanted to spend the lowest possible we skipped Emirates, which offered a direct MXP-DXB flight for 650 euros.
With around 500 euros there were many options with a stopover, the best ones where Swiss and Turkish Airlines.

Swiss International Air Lines - 505 €
27th Feb
MXP-ZRH 9:50 - 11:05
ZRH-DXB 12:55 - 21:55

5th Mar
DXB-ZRH 2:05 - 6:10
ZRH-MXP 7:25 - 8:20

Turkish Airlines - 523 €
27th Feb
MXP-IST 11:15 - 16:15
IST-DXB 21:30 - 2:50 (+1d)

5th Mar
DXB-IST 2:40 - 6:35
IST-MXP 8:55 - 9:45

Even if I was really curious to try Turkish Airlines and visit the marvellous Istanbul Airport this solution presented a drawback: arriving at Dubai at 3 am in the morning would have been loosing the first half of the day 28th Febraury, seriously affecting our program.
Moreover the 5-hour stopover in IST would have been a bit boring

For all these reasons we decided to try Swiss International Air Lines via Zurich. For me it would be the first time with this airline and transfering in ZRH.

The 1st November my friend and I booked the tickets. For unknown reasons the price was 5 euros lower on Lufthansa website, so we bought it from there. My friend decided to buy a cheaper fare (420€) since she didnt' need the hold luggage.

In order to be closer to the Expo 2020 site we book the Avani Ibn Battuta Hotel in Jebel Ali, for 560€ (4 nights)
The hotel is very cozy, the service very good and it's just 30 minutes by metro to the Exposition.

ROUTING

Some stats:
First time on a Airbus A220
First time with Swiss International Air Lines
First time in ZRH

I made a stopover in MXP in 2009 while coming back from a family trip in Mauritius

before the flight

In order to enter United Arab Emirates a PCR-Test done in the 72 hrs before departure is requested.
With the flight departing on Sunday I went to a private clinic in Milan to get my PCR-Test. This clinic gave me the insurance that the result would be ready within the next 24 hrs.
Fortunately I resulted "negative"
UAE requires also a proof of vaccination, in my case the European Digital Certificate.

Swiss opens the online check-in 24 hours before the departure. The morning before my friend and I checked-in through LX website. During the procedure it was possible (not mandatory) to upload medical certificates and get an early verification. Since this procedure resulted quite slow we decided to ignore and do the verification at the airport.
Having booked separately the system gave us far seats. However it was possible to change them after the check-in.

In order to stay close and have a window seat, we chose 50H-K for ZRH-DXB leg (below). I've read mixed reviews on SeatGuru about this seats, especially due to the proximity to lavatories.
However this choice would prove to be a good one

The day before flight I also buy online tickets for MalpensaExpress, a rapid train connectin Milan city with the airport.
It took around 55 minutes and departs from three important Milan stations: Milano Centrale, Milano P.ta Garibaldi and Milano Cadorna FN.
The tickets costs 13€ for a single ride and 20€ for the two-way ticket

Arriving at MXP and check-in

With the flight scheduled for 9.50 we decided to be at the airport at 8 am.
To be at MXP before this time we took the MalpensaExpress at 6.55 from Milano Centrale, arriving at the airport at 7.43

In order to take the train on time I left my house near Udine Metro Station (on Line 2) at 6.10

In around 20 minutes I reached Milan Centrale Station
MalpensaExpress departs from platform 1, which is located at the far left side of the station
It takes around 7-8 minutes to get there from the metro station

The MalpensaExpress stops in Milano Garibaldi, Milano Bovisa, Saronno, Busto Arsizio, Malpensa Terminal 1 (our stop) and Malpensa Terminal 2. Transfering between T1 and T2 is free of charge.
The ride was quite pleasant, the train is kinda new and full of baggage storage areas.

At 7.48, five minutes after scheduled, we arrived at Milan Malpensa Airport. The station is located underneath Terminal 1, which hosts most of the airlines at MXP

The access to the Terminal is guaranteed by a short walkway
FIDS showing our flight to be on time and handled at check-in area 6

The check-in hall is modern, spacious and full of natural light
Moreover it has glass facades open both land and airside, quite uncommon in many terminals…

Row 6 handles all LH-Group flights

Even if LX app showed "checked-in" as status we weren't able to download our boarding passes. This happened maybe because we skipped the early health documents' check.
Not a big issue considering I had to queue in any case for hold luggage

Baggage was scaled, vaccine certificate was checked and BPs were printed
The whole procedure (queue+check-in) took around 25 minutes

This is my first time travelling through MXP and I'm not sure about the spotting possibilites
However the food court located over check-in area offers a good view of the apron

easyJet A321neo parked at pier A71-A80

United Airlines Boeing 767 at pier B

Neos Boeing 737 and Etihad Airways Boeing 777 at pier B

The check-in hall seen from the food court

Having nothing else to do landside we proceeded straight to the security checkpoint
We scan our BP at 8:25, one hour before scheduled boarding time

Waiting for boarding

Even if the queueing area was a bit messy the control itself didn't take too much
Some lanes were also equipped with better X-ray machines that don't require liquids to be taken out
In 15 minutes we were airside.

Going downstairs for the departure lounge

Mandatory passage through the duty free
As told by the check-in agent our gate would be A26
Gates A handles all Schenghen flights while Gates B are dedicated to non-Schenghen
Let's turn right

Many bird parked in the apron

Neos Air Boeing 787 
This is the only italian airline operating the Dream)Liner

Our gate is located on the ground floor and this means only one thing: boarding by bus

About 30 minutes before scheduled departure time boarding was called by groups
The plane didn't seem to be full

BOARDING AND SPOTTING

The bus ride was quite fast and in a handful of minutes we reach our plane:
Swiss International Air Lines Airbus A220-100, HB-JBI, delivered in July '19 and equipped with 125 seats in flexible C-Y configuration.

Mandatory door shot…

…and wing view

I really like Swiss livery, very simple but effective

After giving the Flight report form to the purser I made my way to my seat 18A
The first impression is quite good, the cabin is well illuminated and doesn't feel crampy

The seat is comfortable and the pitch is good, very pleasant for a so-short flight

The view from my seat, with easyJet A320

Meanwhile last passengers got onboard and doors were armed

Since the boarding gate was quite far from apron and sun was facing I wasn't able to take good pics
So the spotting time was postponed from the plane, waiting for taxiing to start

Turkish Airlines A330

El Al Boeing 737

Malta Air Boeing 737

Aeroflot A321

Air Europa Boeing 737

DHL A300

Finnair A321

Etihad Airways Boeing 777

Almost 30 minutes after scheduled departure time we left our stand

easyJet, WizzAir and Ryanair line up at remote stands

Lufthansa A320 landing

Ready-to-go Qatar Airways Boeing 787

FedEx Boeing 777F parked at the cargo area

China Eastern A330

Etihad Triple-7 preceding us for take-off

The taxiway to runway 35R passes under the landing path of RWY35L, giving a nice view of arriving aircrafts
British Airways A320

Malpensa Airports has two runways: 16R/35L and 16L/35R
The first is closer to the main terminal (T1)

Air China A350, Qatar Airways Boeing 777, ITA Airways Boeing 777 (in Alitalia's livery) and Swift, ASL Airlines and DHL West Atlantic Boeing 737s

The view of the snowy Alps from MXP is breathtaking

easyJet A320 landing

Etihad leaving to Abu Dhabi while we waited for our turn

Such a long taxi for a short flight…

the flight

This small screen is so cozy

Aligning on RWY35R

42 minutes after scheduled we started our take off run to ZRH
The two Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines seems very powerful and not so loud

Bye bye Milan, see you next week

Terminal 1

I really like its architecture, since it has a unitary design even if built in different stages

Terminal 2, used by easyJet only

The town of Somma Lombardo, located just north of the airport

Varese lake and Varese town

Flying over Como Lake, the 3rd largest in Italy

Maggiore Lake, shared by Italy and Switzerland
The big town in the lower part of the pic is Locarno (CH)

Ten minutes into the flight a bottle of water and a small chocolate bar was distributed
Love the logo impressed on the bar

Meanwhile Alps started scrolling below us

The Matterhorn (4.478 metres), one of the highest mountains on the Alps
Know in italian as Cervino, it's easily recognizable for its almost symmetrical pyramid shape

Being a short flight the plane didn't reach the typical cruise altitude, but remained below 6.000 metres, giving a beautiful sight of the mountains

landing in zrh

Less than half an hour after leaving MXP the cabin was prepared for landing
Passing over the city of Zürich

Zürich Main Station (Hauptbahnhof) clearly visible, along with Sihl and Limmats canals

Banking over Zürich suburbs

Arrivals information showed on the small overhead screen
Bus deboarding also in ZRH

Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant, located along Rhine river

According to Flight-Radar we fly for a moment over Germany

Flaps down for landing

Last moments in the air
We'd land on RWY14

At 11:15, ten minutes after scheduled, we touched down at Flughafen Zürich
Landing was a bit bumpy, but the breaking was smooth and long

Vacating the runway

ITA Airways A320 taking off on RWY10/28

Helvetic Airways E-190

Heavies line-up at Dock E, the satellite building used for extra-Schenghen operations at ZRH
Swiss A330 and Boeing 777s, United Airlines Boeing 767 and Air Canada Boeing 777

The BP printed in MXP already showed "E" as gate for the flight to Dubai

European birds parked at Dock A
Swiss A320, Iberia A320 and KLM Boeing 737

We reached our remote stand at 11.29, 26 minutes before scheduled boarding time to Dubai (11.55)
Maybe we'd need to speed up our walk inside the terminal

Fortunately the taxi was quite short

Swiss A320 crossing the runway with Dock E in the background

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 taking off

While disembarking I get the flight report from the purser form and I kindly asked him to visit the cockpit
I'm always impressed by the amount of technology in the newest cockpits
The Captain was very kind to show me also the HUD, the trasparent screen which displays useful information to the pilots

The paper was quite well filled

Last view of our bird getting on the bus

The bus took only 2 minutes to bring us to the terminal
We entered  the terminal at 11.30

Boarding for the next flight is set for 11.55, while the departure should happen at 12.55
Knowing we would have to clear passport control and take the transit system to the satellite terminal we put the 4th gear to our legs and pointed immediately to our gate

Don't forget to see the next flight report