Swiss is joining its sister carriers Lufthansa, Austrian and Brussels Airlines in introducing a premium economy cabin to its B777 fleet.
The new product will be configured in three rows of 2-4-2 for a total 24 seats in the cabin, and will offer 20 per cent more seat pitch, 25 per cent more recline, and 10 per cent more width compared to economy.
The carrier said that work would begin to retrofit aircraft in the winter of 2020/2021, with the product available from spring 2021.
A total of CHF 40 million will be invested in installing the new seat onto Swiss’ B777 fleet, with the aim of subsequently extending it to all of the carrier’s long-haul aircraft.
The airline said that its premium economy offering will be “a newly developed seat providing extensive legroom and movement”, with Tamur Goudarzi Pour, Swiss’ chief commercial cfficer stating that “All in all, our Premium Economy Class travellers will enjoy a substantially stronger sense of personal space”.
Swiss said it was responding to growing demand for an air travel product between economy and business class, and said it had been “encouraged by the positive experiences with such a product at Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines”.
Lufthansa launched its premium economy seat in 2014, with Austrian following suit in 2018.
And last month sister carrier Brussels Airlines unveiled plans for its own premium economy cabin, to launch on its A330 aircraft later this year.
