Review: Edelweiss Air’s First Airbus A350 – The Rise of Holiday Airlines?

• Airline: Edelweiss Airlines
• Class: Business
• Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
• Route: Zurich (ZRH) to Tenerife (TFS)
• Flight time: 4 Hours 30 Minutes

Today, we are celebrating Switzerland’s very first Airbus A350 on a Edelweiss flight from Zurich to Tenerife.

I was joined by the airline’s CEO, other aviation YouTubers, and a very excited cabin crew.

A few days ago, Edelweiss Airlines received its very first Airbus A350 in an attempt to replace their aging Airbus A340 fleet.

The holiday airline is now set to add the plane to its network with training flights throughout Europe before sending the new flagship to Las Vegas in May.

I booked myself a ticket to be part of the event of their very first commercial flight.

After checking in for the A350 inaugural flight in Zurich, I headed to the gate to take a look at the plane.

It’s actually not a new plane; it used to fly for LATAM in South America for the past six years and was then sold or leased to Edelweiss. It still features the old LATAM cabin, but they have plans to refurbish it.

The bigger plan is to have the A350s replace their aging Airbus A340 fleet. However, the delivery of the plane with the red front looks pretty stunning, I must say.

I was able to have a quick chat with the CEO of Edelweiss, Mr Bernd Bauer.

I asked him, “Everyone is pretty excited about the new A350 and its first flight. What does this plane mean to the airline and possibly the country?”

It’s a very special day today. We’ve been working towards this goal for many months to have this aircraft operating today. For Edelweiss, it’s the future. We probably will have this aircraft for the next 20 years. It’s the most modern aircraft in the world, so we have not only great comfort for our passengers but also much less pollution—25% less fuel burn, 25% less CO2, and 50% less noise.

Talking about the future, he mentioned they will introduce a new cabin as well.

We will introduce a new cabin by the end of the year. We will have the first presentation and start refurbishing the aircraft by the last quarter of next year. Then we will have a complete new cabin layout—a complete new business class, premium economy, and economy. On the 15th of May is the first long-haul operation from Zurich to Las Vegas.

I was very excited to get on board the A350. Starting with the economy class—The configuration is 3-3-3, as you’d expect, but for a leisure airline, it actually is pretty impressive.

Every seat also features a personal entertainment screen. Frequent flyers of LATAM Airlines are probably familiar with the product.

The Business Class is in a 2-2-2 configuration. The great part is that when you have forward-facing seats, they’re a lot wider and aren’t as crammed as those reversed Herringbone ones.

In terms of privacy, it’s a bit more exposed but definitely an improvement to the A340 that they have in service.

Both cabins are going to be refurbished, but for now, given that this is a holiday airline, this is actually a pretty decent hard product.

It was nice to see a bunch of plane spotters from all over Switzerland gather to capture the moment Edelweiss’ A350 first take off.

We experienced some stunning views of Zurich and the Swiss Alps as we flew out of the airport.

I took the opportunity to first try out the lie-flat seat. I think that is the advantage of the forward-facing business class seats, though some people say they’re a bit outdated. They do give you a lot more room when you’re flat.

Next on the agenda was lunch; apparently, the catering of Edelweiss is pretty good I was told, so I was very much looking forward to seeing what they serve on this flight to Tenerife.

Two hours into the flight, we were served our meal. It was pretty good for a holiday airline, I cleaned the plate except the greens, which is normal for those who know me well.

I was sat next to Andreas who I met on this flight and we exchanged good conversation throughout the journey. It was nice to chat to him about his son who is a plane spotter with 70,000 followers on TikTok.

His verdict was positive on the food as well.

I went wandering back to Economy Class where I met Mark, who is a German YouTuber with his channel called The Airlinetester .

I asked him of his opinion on how he evaluates the economy class product. Mark replied,

“I think it’s a very decent product. Of course, if you have a shorter flight on a long-haul aircraft, it’s always amazing. But even if I imagine this aircraft going to, let’s say the Maldives or to the Caribbean, I think it’s a very decent product.

The legroom is absolutely fine; the crew is gorgeous; the seat is very comfortable; you have possibility to charge your phone. The only thing lacking is the Wi-Fi, and I think the food could be a little better. But I imagine it’s just because of the distance of the flight.

There should be a proper meal on the long-haul flight. In this case, it was just some salad and some cheese and some cookies and stuff. Not too impressed by that, but for me, it’s a brand new airplane—it’s clean and absolutely gorgeous.”

After four hours, the island of Tenerife was finally in sight, and the Airbus A350 was about to finish its first commercial flight.

For the next couple of weeks, the A350 is going to be deployed across a couple of destinations within Europe, including Edinburgh. So, this is your chance to fly a wide-body plane within Europe, which is quite rare these days.

What stood out for me was the food—what they dished up was incredible. The crew was very lovely, very kind, very engaging. That’s what we love; that’s what we wanted to see on an inaugural flight event.

I’ve never flown Edelweiss before, so I can’t really compare it to anything, but I got good vibes—a holiday airline with a very good soul. And that is what I take with me today, and that’s what I’m going to remember. I can highly recommend trying out the A350.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing their new business class product, which is going to be introduced next year. As they said, it’s going to be a huge improvement to what they took over from LATAM. But overall, that was a very, very lovely experience.

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About the Author

Josh Cahill is an award-winning Aviation YouTuber who is reportedly one of the most-watched flight reviewers on the internet. He organised Afghanistan’s first all-female flight together with Kam Air in February 2021 on a flight from Herat to Kabul for which he received the Aviation Achievement Award. His favourite hobby? Flying exotic airlines nobody has ever heard of.