Summary
- In October, SWISS will operate eight roundtrip Airbus A340-300 and Boeing 777-300ER flights between Zurich and Geneva.
- Flights are usually blocked at 55 minutes to one hour but often take 25 to 40 minutes.
- The year 2024 has had the highest number of domestic widebody flights since 2018.
The Swiss flag carrier occasionally deploys its widebodies from its Zurich hub to Geneva. It last did so in August 2024, when the A340-300 was flown. SWISS’s latest schedule update shows it will use the aging but characterful A340-300 and the Boeing 777-300ER on the 125 nautical mile (231 km) domestic hop in October. Separately, the carrier sometimes operates its twin-aisles internationally within Europe: it flew the A330-300 to Malaga in August.
The A340: Zurich to Geneva
In October, SWISS will operate seven roundtrip flights on the low-capacity, high-premium, 215-seat A340. It is the carrier’s lowest-capacity widebody aircraft.
It is unclear why twin-aisle aircraft are used on the link, but it surely relates to higher demand or crew reasons. The equipment has eight first-class seats, but they are, of course, not bookable. Maybe some business passengers are treated to them on a very short leg.
What is the type’s October schedule?
Seven roundtrip flights are planned on Tuesdays and Sundays. They will operate on October 1, 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, and 22. Flights are timed as follows and will, funnily enough, operate the exact same service as the A340 did in August. Passengers from long-haul arrivals will feed the 07:25/07:30 departure from Zurich.
- Tuesdays: Zurich-Geneva (LX2802, 07:30-08:30); Geneva-Zurich (LX2807, 10:00-10:55)
- Sundays: Zurich-Geneva (LX2802, 07:25-08:30); Geneva-Zurich (LX2807, 10:00-10:55)
The Boeing 777-300ER is also planned
SWISS’s schedules show that the 777-300ER will operate one roundtrip Zurich-Geneva service in 2024: October 19. On that day, it will operate LX2802, leaving Zurich at 07:45 and arriving in Geneva at 08:45. Returning, LX2807 will depart at 10:00 and return at 10:55. Widebodies seem to be flown on these particular services.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The 320-seat 777-300ER—comfortably SWISS’s highest-capacity equipment—operated seven times in 2023 during August, September, and October.
The airline has 12 Triple 7s, each with eight first-class seats, 62 in business, 24 in premium economy, and 226 in economy. The 777-300ER is the fifth most commonly flown machine between the US and Europe.
Widebodies are commonplace
According to Cirium schedules data, SWISS has used four widebody types/variants on Zurich-Geneva in 12 of the past 20 years. Aside from the A340 in August and October and the 777-300ER in October, the A330-300 was flown on four occasions in May 2024. The now-retired A330-200 was used, too.
Zurich-Geneva will have 19 widebody roundtrip flights in 2024, down from 18 in 2023, none in 2022, 10 in 2021, none in 2020, and just three in 2019. While 2024 is a record recently, services are down from 225 in 2016, 126 in 2017, and 89 in 2018.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying
A quick look at Zurich-Geneva
Since high-speed trains usually take ~2h 45m between the two cities, most SWISS passengers connect to another flight. Booking data suggests that about eight in 10 passengers connected elsewhere last year.
An estimated 340,000 passengers (932 daily) transferred to another flight in Zurich. Geneva-Italy was the most popular country market, followed by the US, Germany, Spain, France, India, Thailand, Sweden, the UK, and Greece.
Perhaps surprisingly, over 70,000 passengers (192 daily) were still point-to-point—they only flew between the two cities—with avgeeks traveling specifically to get on the airline’s widebodies among them.