Photo: Edelweiss The A350-900 aircraft of the Swiss Edelweiss airline, the smaller sister of SWISS, the leading company in the Lufthansa Group, picked up the aircraft from Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (LDE) airport, where it had been stored since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aircraft was then flown to the airline's main base at Zurich-Kloten airport (ZRH), and its entry into regular service will begin on April 1.
Initially, Edelweiss plans to operate the aircraft for a number of weeks on familiarization flights within its short and medium-haul network, and starting from May, the A350-900 will fly between Zurich and Las Vegas (LAS).
This aircraft is the first of six, previously operated by LATAM Airlines, and the Swiss airline will use it to replace its old A340-300 fleet.
Although the company mainly operates in the charter and leisure market, Edelweiss operates its long-haul flights with a 3-class configuration. In the case of the A350-900, Edelweiss chose to retain the previous operator's cabin configuration, LATAM Airlines, for the first 4 A350 aircraft it will receive. The planes are equipped with a total of 339 seats: 30 in business class, 63 in economy max – premium, and 246 in economy class.
The Swiss airline has already announced its intention to refurbish the cabins of these aircraft at a later time to suit its own bespoke interior design.
The leading sister company, SWISS, also part of the Lufthansa Group, will receive its first A350-900 later this year in time for summer. Earlier this month, SWISS revealed that it would adorn this first A350-900 in a special livery called "SWISS Wanderlust", which will feature a picturesque display inspired by the airline's home country, Switzerland.
