swiss lx 2033 madrid - zurich (business)
This Swiss flight was operated by Helvetic Airways with the new Embraer 195-E2. Swiss sometimes uses Helvetic's smaller jets on individual European routes on days with fewer passengers. Our flight was operated with HB-AZI, which was delivered to Helvetic on 26.06.2021.
Madrid Barajas Airport is easily accessible by taxi, Uber or metro in max. 30 min. from the city centre. Check-in and baggage drop-off at the Swiss Business counter was extremely efficient and hassle-free. Nevertheless, there was one small annoyance at the airport. As a C passenger, you normally have the option of fast access to security. This was also available in Barajas - but only in theory. We were sent there, but for unknown reasons this fast access was closed. None of the people working in the immediate vicinity knew. That's a shame for such a big airport. Better coordination and information is needed in such cases.
The plane was parked at an outside position in Madrid, which meant that we were transported to the airliner by bus. Of course, this meant that we were not guided onto the plane according to boarding groups and priority boarding for us business passengers was omitted. This was not so tragic, because on the plane itself there were two staircases, one in the front and one in the back. This meant that there were not quite so many queues for boarding in the aisle.
cabin and seats
The 195-E2 is in use in a 2-2 configuration. This means that business passengers have the next seat free on each of the two rows. At first glance, Helvetic seems to be somewhat disturbed by the fact that there is no visual separation between Business and Economy with a curtain or similar. The seats are upholstered in grey leather, appear light and are very comfortable. The seat pitch of 74 - 78 cm is pleasant. There are also USB charging sockets in each row of seats, which is sorely missed on Swiss' A220 aircraft and actually belongs to the standard on new aircrafts.
flight and catering
On our evening flight, a light dinner was served with the Swiss cheese known as standard on Swiss flights, together with a bread / cabbage salad and dried meat. The meal served on porcelain plates was absolutely ok in terms of quantity and also of high quality. Rolls and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are served with the meal. I was less enthusiastic about the service itself. However, I lack the experience on Helvetic flights to be able to judge whether this is due to the airline's employees or because the maître de cabine simply had a bad day. He preferred to talk to a C-passenger for 10 minutes before he had even finished the service for all business passengers.
Another nice review! Odd that there is no curtain separating J from Y. As you say, a decent alternative to the LX A220, and the 4 USB ports for every 2 seats is actually very nice...something missing from LX A220s, which may otherwise have a nicer cabin.
Thanks for sharing!