Flight review: Swiss Air Lines business class seats offer the ultimate in privacy

FLYING business class is great. Flying business in privacy is even better. So forget those flip-flop screens between the seats, this airline has taken mile-high privacy a step further.

The business class seat on Swiss Air Lines. Picture: Swiss Air Lines

A BUSINESS or first class flight to Europe or the US - or any long flight in the front cabin for that matter - is really a case of booking a hotel with wings.

One of the odder aspects of such flights is bedding down next to someone you don't even know; even in first class (the exception is first-class suites on Singapore and Emirates, the current equivalent of a hotel room in the sky).

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Major international carriers have addressed this problem with flip-up privacy screens between seats and by designing business class cabins divided into adjacent quasi-compartments, with the seats themselves some distance apart.

Having flown business class on Swiss twice in the past two months, I can say that the airline has taken the solution a big step farther by doing something simple: creating single seats in business class on its A340 and A330-300 aircraft. They are used for long-haul international flights to and from Zurich and Geneva, the airline's international gateways in Switzerland.

When you book business class, ask for an Einselsitz - or a single seat. On A330-300s and A340s they consist of 6A, 8A, 10A, 12A, and all of row K. Really want to show that you know? The A330-300 and A340 business class cabin is divided in two, with a two-row section in front of the galley.

They are the ones to get because the space feels so private. Request 4A, 4K, or 5K. The first two are single bulkhead seats, and the last-named is nicely tucked against the back wall. To my mind, they are like having a small junior suite.

Whether you get an Einselsitzor or not, Swiss' business class seat is very comfortable and well thought-out. It has a built-in power outlet that is multinational when it comes to plug formats, cubbyholes for shoes, and a small countertop to put things on when the tray is not extended.

The seat itself turns into a 78-inch/2 metre flat-bed that lowers into a space carved out for it in the seat in front. I had one of the best nights ever in the air on the JFK-Zurich flight.

The food - from recipes by Thomas Amstutz of the Villa Honegg in Ennetburgen - was also pretty darn good.

The wine list had a racy, under-the-radar 2012 riesling-Sylvaner from Weingut Nadine Saxer, that made a fine aperitif and partner to the lemongrass marinated king prawns, and a very good 2010 Chateau Haut-Faugeres to go with the main course.

And I liked the fact that before takeoff, the chief flight attendant came down the aisle to offer a personal greeting and ask if one had any questions. It's one of those little, low-cost touches that personalises (and rationalises) the cost of business class.

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