Swiss' first A350 will be a 'flying art gallery'
Swiss expects to deliver its first Airbus A350-900 by mid-year, from an order of 10 aircraft.
The widebody, which will receive the registration HB-IFA, is being assembled at Airbus in Toulouse, as the Swiss carrier revealed a month ago.
What the Lufthansa Group company had not yet revealed is that this A350 will receive a special livery to mark its delivery.
Named “Wanderlust”, the aircraft will be a kind of flying art gallery, with various characters, symbols and places spread across the fuselage, tail and engines.
According to the airline, the following will be present: a marmot, Helveitia, which symbolizes Switzerland, and even singer Freddie Mercury, from the band Queen, who passed away in 1991.
“This special livery is our flying declaration of our love for Switzerland,” said Swiss Chief Commercial Officer Heike Birlenbach. “It’s a confirmation of how close we feel to our home country; and it’s an invitation to everyone to discover and explore it in all its uniqueness in a playful and creative way.
Aircraft to debut in late summer
After a long period in which it has relied on its long-haul flights to the four-engine Airbus A340 and the twin-engine A330 and Boeing 777-300ER, Swiss announced an order for five A350-900s in 2022.
Last December, however, the flag carrier revealed that it had secured another order for five aircraft, which are expected to be delivered by 2031.
More efficient and with a large passenger capacity in four service classes, they will initially replace the four A340-300s currently in service.
The debut is scheduled for late summer 2025, but Swiss has not yet revealed which destinations will be served first by the next-generation aircraft.
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