SWISS Premium Economy Debuts on Its Airbus A340s [Coming Soon to Chicago]

Updated: July 16, 2025, 8:57pm CDT

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More SWISS Aircraft Are Flying With Premium Economy
Final Thoughts

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There’s a new way to fly premium economy to Europe.

The first of Swiss International Air Lines’ Airbus A340-300s with newly-installed premium economy departed Switzerland’s Zurich (ZRH) for Johannesburg (JNB) on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.

Starting in April, this aircraft will operate the carrier’s Zurich to Chicago (ORD) service.

Here are the details.

More SWISS Aircraft Are Flying With Premium Economy

SWISS offers premium economy with a pitch of almost 3.25 feet, which is now in service on even more aircraft as the airline is retrofitting its Airbus A340s. The first destination to welcome the new product was Johannesburg, South Africa. The news comes 1 year after the product took to the skies for the first time bound for Miami (MIA) onboard SWISS’ retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft.

The spacious seats with their 15.6-inch IFE screens and width of up to 18 inches have been a hit with both passengers and industry experts alike.

Swiss 777 business class first course — SWISS business class meal. Image Credit: Ehsan Haque

“Our new Premium Economy Class has rapidly established itself as a hugely popular way of travel,” said Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour of SWISS. “And the highly positive feedback that we’ve received from our customers — on the greater seating comfort, the enhanced service, the wider choice of meals, and the quality of the food — has only strengthened our resolve to offer this top-quality product on more of our routes.”

By April 2023, SWISS will complete the installation of premium economy on its 4 Airbus A340s which will enter service on routes from Zurich (ZRH) to Chicago (ORD) and Hong Kong (HKG).

Over the last few years, we’ve seen more airlines rolling out premium economy to offer passengers an upgraded experience for around half the price of what a business class ticket would be, though tickets for SWISS’ twice-daily rotation from its hub at Zurich to Chicago are still unavailable for booking at the time of writing. To get an idea of what prices might be, a return premium economy ticket on SWISS’ Zurich to Miami route starts from $1,359.

Hot Tip: Premium economy is great, but business class on SWISS is even better. What’s more, there are several ways you can redeem points for SWISS business class instead of paying cash rates.

Final Thoughts

SWISS is continuing the rollout of its brand-new premium economy product, and the first of its retrofitted Airbus A340s has already taken to the skies. In addition to service from Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), and San Francisco (SFO), you’ll soon be able to fly SWISS premium economy from Chicago to Zurich and beyond to destinations in Africa and Asia.