Swiss A320neo Business Class review: I had hoped for something a little more ‘Switzerland’

My imagination runs a little wild sometimes. A perfect example of this was the lead up to my recent Swiss A320neo business class experience.

Somehow, I was expecting it to be more stylish and refined compared to the regional business class products of other European airlines.

I mean, how could it not be? Have you seen some of the watches coming out of Switzerland recently? Surely that sort of attention to detail and precision would be applied to every aspect of its flag carrier.

The TLDR: surely it does not.

LX317
London, UK (LHR) – Zürich, Switzerland (ZRH)
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Aircraft: A320-271N
Registration: HB-JDD
Duration: 1 hour 24 minutes
Seat: 3F (Business Class)

Swiss Airlines A320neo side view illustration by NorebboStock.com

LX317 flight track — Our route from London to Zürich this morning as LX317

My full review of Swiss A320neo business class from London Heathrow to Zürich

Despite the somewhat sarcastic intro to this review, just know that this was a pretty decent intra-European business class experience.

Leg room was pretty good. The food was plentiful, and the cabin crew was nice. I just want to put that out there right from the get-go.

Arrival at terminal 2 Heathrow Airport

This flight to Zürich was scheduled to depart at 8:45 AM. I stayed the night at the Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to Terminals 2 and 3, so it was a fairly easy and uneventful stroll over to the main entrance.

Entering terminal 2 (the Queen's terminal) from the departure level at Heathrow Airport — Welcome to Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport (you know, the one named after the Queen of England that doesn’t actually contain any English airlines). She had to be so miffed that they didn’t put her name on T5 instead.

Star Alliance airlines flying out of terminal 2 Heathrow airport — *“Let’s see here. No, nope, nuh-uh, wouldn’t that be nice, and…yeah! Swiss! Looks like I’m in the right place.”*

Scott (SANspotter) walking around the terminal 2 ticketing hall at Heathrow airport — I already checked in online (and I already had my boarding pass), so I spent the next few minutes walking around pretending like I was looking for the Swiss check-in desk as if I was someone who hadn’t already checked in online (and didn’t already have a boarding pass).

Terminal 2 ticketing hall at Heathrow Airport pillars C and D — **Aims camera keeping a level horizon with 90° vertical lines, mindful of the rule of thirds, being respectful of my fellow passengers (trying to make it look like I’m not taking pictures of anyone specific), attempting (but failing) to include anything related to Swiss Airlines (or Star Alliance), all while weighing the pros and cons of eating a full breakfast in the lounge vs. a light snack** This travel blogging stuff is hard yo.

After clearing security (which took all of 3 minutes) I spent the next 30 minutes shoveling breakfast into my face in the Lufthansa Lounge. From there, I killed the time by walking up and down the A concourse of T2 too many times to count. Gotta get those steps in!

Looking down on the central part of terminal 2 with shops and restaurants at Heathrow Airport — There may be no English airlines in this terminal, but it does feature a balcony which allows you to look down on the peons below (which I’m sure was something the Queen enjoyed whether she admitted to it or not). BTW, my flight will be departing from…

Passengers looking at the departures board inside terminal 2 at Heathrow airport — …from…from… (waiting until 8:05 until the gate number is announced)…

Swiss Airlines gate A24 information display in terminal 2 at LHR — …from gate A24!

Swiss Airlines London to Zürich Business class mobile boarding pass — Wait a sec. Was the gate number here on my boarding pass all along? I use Apple Wallet for boarding passes, which are dynamic and will usually (but not always) update with new information if anything changes. I honestly have no idea if it was there before 8:05 or not. Idiot!

The boarding process

I very much needed this flight to go out on time this morning. I was facing a tight connection in Zürich, and any delays here at LHR could’ve been catastrophic.

Swiss Airlines gate A24 information display in terminal 2 at LHR showing economy boarding and priority boarding queues — This way, thatta way, please take a seat. It was confusing to me then as it is confusing to me now (two whole weeks after I took this flight).

Thankfully they were able to get the boarding process started exactly on time at 8:20 AM. Business class passengers (Group 1) had their own dedicated boarding queue, and as usual, I found myself at the very end.

Swiss Airlines Group 1 business class passengers boarding at gate A24 terminal 2 Heathrow Airport — Presumably the Group 1 boarding queue. I’m only 78% confident that I got this right.

Passengers walking down gate A24 jet bridge terminal 2 Heathrow Airport

Scott (SANspotter) walking down gate A24 jet bridge terminal 2 Heathrow Airport

Swiss A320neo forward boarding door — Here we go with my first ever flight on Swiss Airlines. I’m not noticing anything interesting yet, but you know me. I’ll be the first to let you know when that happens.

Swiss A320neo business class seats and cabin overview

Business class on the Swiss A320neo is nothing you haven’t seen before. There are 8 rows of seats in a standard 3-3 configuration (all middle seats are blocked, so it’s basically 2-2). If I did the math correctly, that’s 24 business class seats total.

Swiss A320neo business class cabin — Well, how about that? For an airline who bases its entire brand identity around the color red, there’s not a spec of it here in the cabin. Interesting!

Swiss A320neo business class seats row 3 — Brown seats, blue carpet. Interesting!

Swiss A320neo business class under seat storage space with black carpet — Actually, I think the carpet is black. The previous ‘interesting!’ has been rendered null and void.

Swiss A320neo business class legroom and seat width — Leg room looks to be typical of intra-European business class. No you guys, this is not enough reason to bring back the voided-out ‘interesting!’.

As it is on most other European airlines, these business class seats are standard economy seats with extra legroom and a blocked middle seat.

Swiss A320neo business class row 3 — You know, I’m kinda liking the brown thing (which, interestingly enough, could be a fairly interesting statement depending on your maturity level).

Swiss A320neo business class USB-A and USB-C charging ports — USB-A and USB-C charging ports. This is more convenient than interesting IMHO, so there’s still no need to bring back the redacted ‘interesting!’ yet.

Red spotted on the wall! Better than red spots in the carpet I guess.

These seats feel exactly like the ones in KLM 737-800 business class. And Austrian Airlines A320neo business class. They’re very hard, and very narrow. There are no built-in video screens.

Swiss A320neo business class headrest cover — I am interested by the fact that the headrest covers have the same faux leather texture as the seats. Neat little design detail IMHO.

Swiss A320neo business class complementary bottled water served before departure

Swiss A320neo business class complementary wet wipe handed out before departure

Swiss A320neo business class passengers — That moment when the boarding door is closed, and you begin to celebrate the fact that the seat next to you is vacant, only to remember that you’re flying intra-European business class (where the middle seats are always vacant except for that one time in TAP Portugal A320 business class), and then you feel stupid.

Scott (SANspotter) sitting in seat 3F Swiss A320neo business class — I may be stupid, but I’m not that interesting.

The departure from LHR

I’m not normally one to stress over a 5 minute delay getting pushed off the gate, but I couldn’t help it this time. I only had one hour and 15 minutes to make my connection at ZRH. That might seem like enough, but I had no idea how long it would take to get through security and passport control.

View of engine and wing while looking out the window from seat 3F in a Swiss A320neo — Mountin’ up and movin’ out. I would’ve cracked a whip to get it moving a little faster if I had one.

They had us underway at 8:50 AM. From there, it was a 18 minute taxi out to runway 09R.

Passing by in Emirates A380 in a Swiss A320neo at LHR — The exact moment when (all of a sudden / out of nowhere) the Swiss A320neo I was riding on didn’t seem all that cool anymore. It all happened so fast!

Scott (SANspotter) looking out the window from seat 3F in Swiss A320neo business class

Passing by British Airways 787-9 parked at terminal 5 Heathrow Airport

We sat just short of the runway for 8 minutes, which felt like an eternity. Finally, at 9:08 AM (12 minutes behind schedule), we were on our way.

Swiss A320neo holding short of runway 09R moments before takeoff at LHR — Just as a watched pot never boils, a watched Swiss A320neo (registration HB-JDD) takes foreeeeeeever to depart when you’re already facing a tight connection in Zürich. What’s the hold up here?

Swiss A320neo rolling down runway 09R at LHR for departure

Swiss A320neo taking off from runway 09R at Heathrow airport

Looking down on Heathrow Airport moments after taking off from runway 09R in a Swiss A320neo — Shit. More airplane envy.

In-flight entertainment

Past experience has taught me not to expect much in terms of in-flight entertainment on short haul European flights. It wasn’t exactly a shock to find out that there were no streaming movies or TV shows available. There is an app with ‘stuff’ though.

SWISS connect in flight entertainment eJournals menu — Oh. It’s just magazines. I see.

SWISS connect in flight entertainment digital magazine detail screen — This ended up working out to my advantage actually, because I was needing to catch up on the latest issue of Der Spiegel anyway.

SWISS connect in flight entertainment moving map

SWISS connect in flight entertainment eJournals selection screen

Wi-Fi is available for purchase, although messaging is free. The only catch is that you’ll need to login to your Swiss account to activate it.

SWISS connect in flight entertainment free messaging and premium Wi-Fi prices — I totally would’ve tried out the premium Wi-Fi if there weren’t so many interesting magazines to read.

The meal service

Just as it is on most other European airlines, you will get a free meal in Swiss short haul business class. It won’t be the best meal you’ve ever had in your life, but there will be a lot of it.

This was a breakfast flight. I wasn’t exactly hungry (overindulging in the lounge pretty much wiped out my appetite), but I’m never want to turn down a free meal.

My breakfast in Swiss A320neo business class — Breakfast is served. Here we have what appears to be a traditional Swiss dish called “scrambled eggs with roasted vegetables.”

Swiss A320neo business class scrambled eggs breakfast — And it’s hard to tell, but those eggs look to have come from exotic Swiss chickens born and bred in the scenic alpine meadows of Appenzell.

Scott (SANspotter) eating breakfast in Swiss A320neo business class — Authentic Swiss food is so delicious.

The food was pretty good. It was hot, somewhat fresh, and it was decently tasty. Despite not being all that hungry, I ate most of it.

Seat recline and comfort

You’re doing it wrong if you choose to fly Swiss A320neo business class for the comfort. It’s not all that comfortable if I’m being honest, but with the extra legroom, I’m sure it’s better than economy. The blocked middle seat definitely helps.

Crossing my legs in Swiss A320neo business class — The ‘leg crossing’ test. This was pretty comfortable for about 3 minutes before I had to switch to the other leg due to impending numbness. After that? Back to man spreading.

Seat recline is OK. This shouldn’t be shocking considering it’s a standard economy class seat with the standard amount of economy class recline.

Swiss A320neo business class seat recline — FYI, man spreading (even if you’re female) is the only option when the person in front of you fully reclines their seat. There just ain’t no room for dignified leg crossing in situations such as this.

The descent and arrival into ZRH

I’ll tell you what. The beauty of Switzerland on a crisp and clear spring morning does wonders for easing the stress of an upcoming tight connection. The views of the Swiss landscape during the descent were nothing short of stunning.

Swiss A320neo business class pre-landing chocolate — The breakfast chickens ~~may have been~~ were definitely Swiss, but the pre-landing chocolate was Belgian. Go figure.

Overhead LCD display showing our position on a map in Swiss A320neo business class

Looking out the window at the engine and wing while sitting in seat 3F Swiss A320neo business class

Looking out at the lush green scenery from an airplane window under descent into Zürich — *“The hiiillls are alive with the sound of muuusic!*” Oh wait. Wasn’t that Austria?

Swiss A320neo approaching Zürich Airport over lush green farmland

Swiss A320neo short final for Zürich Airport on a very clear morning

Swiss A320neo landing on runway 14 Zürich airport — Welcome to Austria! I mean Switzerland!

We landed on runway 14 three minutes early at 11:32 AM. This had me feeling better about my connection, although it was becoming stressful again upon realization that we were taxiing to a remote stand at the far end of the airport.

Passing by parked Swiss airlines aircraft during the taxi to the gate moments after arrival at Zürich airport — Good thing I took pictures, because the only thing on my mind at this point was the high probability of missing my connection to Miami. I don’t remember any of this lol.

Goodbye message on the overhead displays in Swiss A320neo business class moments after arrival

Swiss A320neo taxiing to remote stand at Zürich Airport

Unbuckling my seatbelt in Swiss A320neo business class moments after arrival — “With a crisp, confidence inspiring mechanical release, the buckle disengaged from the latch plate with a satisfying click. It was neither overly spring-loaded nor disappointingly mushy, but calibrated with an almost Germanic commitment to tactile feedback.” (And you thought the review was over)

Swiss A320neo business class seats 3D, 3E, and 3F — Do you ever look back at the dents you left in the airline seat you just got up from wondering if your butt is really *that* bony? Look what I did to that poor thing!

It was 11:43 AM by the time we were set free. From there, it was a mad (and sloppy) rush to my first ever Swiss 777-300ER business class experience…

Pros and cons

Yes, business class on the Swiss A320neo did live up to my expectations. It didn’t quite live up to my hopes and dreams however, which is what made it seem somewhat disappointing. It was standard run-of-the-mill short hall European business class. It was fine. But was it wrong with me to expect a little more?

Pros

The amount of food they serve on a short flight is crazy. Crazy in a good way!
What’s not to love about blocked middle seats?
German (and Swiss) magazine aficionados will absolutely love the in-flight entertainment experience.

Cons

No free Wi-Fi. Shouldn’t this be free in business class?
Hard seats. Narrow seats. Plain seats. Although, to be fair, it’s par for the course when it comes to short haul European business class.

Swiss A320neo Business Class review: I had hoped for something a little more ‘Switzerland’