Swiss added a tenth Airbus A330-300 twinjet to its fleet today (Friday 21 January) when aircraft HB-JHJ performed its delivery flight from Toulouse to Zurich. The aircraft is due to enter revenue service on Sunday 23 January on a Zurich-New York flight. This latest delivery completes the first phase in the integration of the advanced long-haul A330-300 into the Swiss fleet.
Swiss has been steadily taking delivery of its new Airbus A330-300s since April 2009. The twinjets are gradually replacing the earlier A330-200s in the airline’s fleet. A further five A330-300s were ordered last year. These will join the SWISS long-haul fleet from 2012 onwards, raising total A330-300 numbers to 15 aircraft.
Originally ordered by SWISS back in 2007, the Airbus A330-300 consumes some 13% less fuel per passenger than its predecessor model. One key reason for this is the -300’s advanced and more fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines.
On board, the Airbus A330-300 boasts a two-metre-long lie-flat bed in its SWISS Business cabin and an entire “suite above the clouds” for First Class guests, along with a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system. The A330-300 is currently deployed by SWISS on its services to New York, Chicago, Montreal, Dubai/Muscat, Mumbai, Delhi, Nairobi/Dar es Salaam and Douala/Yaoundé, and on some Miami flights.
Source: Swiss