Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 2 : LX317

London Heathrow (LHR) - Zurich (ZRH)

I got myself settled into 3F and immediately noticed that the bottle of mineral water and cold towel, usually handed out on completion of boarding, were already present in the seat-back pocket. Cushions were set out on the empty middle seats of the six-row Business Class cabin, which had the effect of improving its appearance and enhancing the feeling of separation between the seats - nice idea! The cabin was, of course, spotless as usual. I couldn't help noticing how friendly and chatty the cabin crew were, making everyone feel very welcome and, quite possibly, intending to make the best possible impression on any displaced BA passengers during this, the first day of the much heralded cabin crew strike.

We pushed back from stand at 0851 and, carrying a full load of passengers, our A320 made its way to Runway 27L via the eerily quiet maze of taxiways at the eastern end of the damp and rather miserable-looking airport. The Captain informed us that we were Number 1 for take-off but, on entering 27L, we came to a halt and sat there for several minutes, presumably awaiting our allocated slot. I spotted Jet2 and EuroAtlantic aircraft taxiing towards the holding point, standing in for strike-bound BA. Eventually, a double 'bing' signalled the start of our take-off run and we were on our way.

Once the cabin attendants were released from their seats, they wasted no time in closing the curtain and getting breakfast underway. Service started from the back, which unfortunately seems to be standard operating procedure on otherwise excellent SWISS. The tray contained a cooked breakfast consisting of lovely, buttery scrambled egg, hash browns, bacon and tomato, accompanied by a cold fruit plate. I was offered a choice of breads and selected a roll and some German Schwarzbrot. I drank apple juice and coffee with my food, effortlessly switching to the Jacquart Champagne when the trays were cleared away. Interestingly, I had noticed a couple of mini-bottles of dodgy Heidsieck Monopole on the trolley as it passed me to begin the meal service run; however someone in Rows 4-6 asked for the full-size bottle of Jacquart to be brought out. Well done, that passenger!

Our routing was down through France towards the three-way border city of Basel, where we began our descent. We landed at a cloudy but dry Zurich Airport just prior to 1130 local time, crossed the short-haul take-off runway and made it to our remote stand precisely as the minute hand on my watch aligned itself with the figure 7. "Welcome back to Switzerland" I thought, with a satisfied grin on my face.

Date: Sat 20 Mar 2010
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Scheduled dep: 0850
Actual departure: 0851
Scheduled arrival: 1135
Actual arrival: 1135
Cabin: Business Class
Seat: 3F



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