Tried & Tested

Swiss Avro RJ85/100 economy (short haul)

26 Jan 2009 by Mark Caswell

Check-in I had checked in online at swiss.com the night before hand, and was able to print off boarding passes for both the outbound and return legs (click here for the review), even though the return flight was over 24 hours in advance. This a great facility, as one problem with online check-in is that it can be difficult to print off boarding passes for return legs from hotel rooms.

My journey from central London to London City was far quicker than I had anticipated, and I arrived at the airport at 1600 for my 1710 flight to Zurich, far earlier than I needed to. (NB: If arriving on the DLR, remember to look for trains terminating at Woolwich Arsenal rather King George V as previously, as this stop has recently been added to the line.) Security as always at LCY was a breeze, and I was airside within minutes.

Boarding Having boarded from gate 4, we were advised there would be a delay as not all of the checked luggage had been put on board. When this had been resolved, we took off at 1745.

The flight The Avro RJ85/100 is configured 2-3 throughout, and on this occasion the business class divider was placed after row 4 (the curtain was not used to separate business class and economy). I had chosen to sit in aisle seat 11B as I thought there would be more space on the left hand side, but as it was the middle seat on the right hand side was left free in both business and economy - other than this as far as I could see all window and aisle seats were taken on this busy flight. If you have large luggage I would advise against sitting in rows 7-9, as the overhead bins are considerably thinner here.

A turkey pastrami roll was served to economy class passengers, along with a choice of tea, coffee, soft drinks, beer or wine, and a small bar of Swiss-branded chocolate.

Arrival We landed at 2005, around 15 minutes late, but were quickly disembarked and through passport control around ten minutes after landing.

Verdict Travelling between these two efficient airports is very convenient for time-pressured business travellers. Service on board was friendly, and the seat was perfectly adequate for a short journey of this nature.

Contact swiss.com

Mark Caswell

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