Düsseldorf International

I arrived at the airport at 17:00 with more than plenty of time for my flight to Zurich. The terminal was quite busy and especially at the Economy Class Counters were long lines. It was a long weekend for those living in some German States and it seems that many people used this for a short trip. Business and First Class check in counters were less busy and had no lines with many open counters.

I proceeded to the First Class Counter as the check-in machines were occupied and people were queuing there to be able to check in. The agent welcomed me and retrieved the booking from the system. She confirmed my pre booked seats for the flight to Zurich as well as for the onward journey to Singapore. She wished me a pleasant trip while giving me back my passport and frequent flyer card.

I had scheduled to meet with a friend at Düsseldorf airport and called him, to see if he had already arrived. It turned out that he was about to arrive in a couple of minutes and so I waited before passing security for the gate and lounge at Düsseldorf airport. I used the waiting time for some phone calls which I had finished after he had checked in. We used the dedicated fast lane for passengers traveling in Business or First Class or holding Star Gold status. The lines at these security checkpoints were much shorter than the ones for Economy Class. Unfortunately the persons on front of us were not very experienced and they more time and had liquids without the nowadays necessary plastic zip lock bag.

We passed immigration after a ten minutes wait, which was compared to other lines at the business class security checkpoints long but only a fraction of the time we would have waited at the Economy Class lines.

The terminal was very crowded and I expected the Senator Lounge to be very busy and I was not wrong. I guested my colleague in the lounge and we searched for a seat and were not very lucky. Since he smokes and the smoking room was not that busy, we went there. I am non-smoker but during my times at the university have shared the apartment with a smoker and therefore somehow used to it.

The non-smoking part did not become less busy during our time in the lounge.

As boarding time approached we went down for the gate A 75. Boarding time had not yet started as the flight arrived slightly delayed. And announcement informing us about the delay was made by the gate agent, who also informed us that boarding would start with families with children, who should see the desk, followed by passengers traveling in Business Class and passengers with Hon Circle and Senator Status as well as those with Star Gold status.

Finally around 19:20 boarding was announced and I boarded the Airbus A 320 bound for Zurich.

29 May 2013
DUS – ZRH
[Dusseldorf International – Zurich Kloten]
LX1027 (Swiss International Airlines); Airbus A 320 (HB-JLS / ‘Niederhasli’)
Gate A 75
19:50 – 21:00 [effective 19:53 – 20:56]
Economy Class
Seat 12 C

Once again I was able to secure a seat at one of the two exit rows at the overwing exits. Rows 11 and 12 of these Airbus A 320 were exit rows.

The plane filled with passengers and I would like to give some details of our Airbus A 320.

Our Airbus HB-JLS joined the Swiss fleet as new plane on March 23, 2012 after its maiden flight on March 07 in the same year. It was equipped with 168 seats and powered by two CFM56-5B4 engines by CFM International. The CFM5-5B series are enhanced version of the CFM5-5A series. This engine type is developed for the Airbus A320 family (A318 / A319 / A320 / A321) and has a thrust between 21600 and 33000 lbf, depending on the type. The CFM5-5B4 used on our plane has a thrust of 27000 lbf (120kN).
As usual the Business Class is divided from the rest of the plane by a curtain and there is not much difference in regard to seat pitch and width between the Business Class and Economy Class Cabin with the exception that the middle seat is blocked in Business Class. Seats are upholstered in grey leather and recline four inches via a button in the armrest. Pitch is around 31 inches in both classes. The seats in row 1 have tables that fold out of the armrest and magazine racks on the bulkhead in front, the seats in the exit rows 11 and 12 have tray tables at the back of the seat in front. There is no armrest at the window side of those seats, which could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on the preferences of the passengers.

The seats in row 11 do not recline but have the same legroom (approximately 34 inch) as the seat in the row behind, which could be reclined. For such a short flight this does make much of difference but for a longer flight there is a difference. The window seat in row 10 does also not recline due to the overwing exit in the row behind. The other disadvantage of the exit row seats is that it is not allowed to store items under the seat during taxi, departure and arrival.

In the meantime boarding was completed and seat blocking worked as the seat next to me remained empty. The maître de cabin welcomed us on board and informed us about our flight time before he started the safety video. The safety video was shown on the screens above the seats and it was quite a long video even showing the brace position and how to use the evacuation slide in the case of an emergency. I could not remember to have seen this video before, but maybe I simply did not paid attention to it before. This should not be the case, as it helps to see things over and over again to memorize them.

We were pushed back 19:53 and taxied to runway 23 L. During our taxi the captain welcomed us on board and gave us a weather update for Zurich. Finally at 20:03 the captain pulled the thrust lever and the two CFM56-5B4 engines rev up. We accelerated on the wet tarmac and finally left rainy Düsseldorf for Zurich. We took off in Western direction towards river Rhine before we made a turn southwards and flew via Frankfurt and Stuttgart towards Zurich.

The flight was uneventful. A salami sandwich was served in Economy Class together with a beverage round. I opted for a coffee but declined the offer to the sandwich. I talked during the flight to my colleague about various topics. The two HONs in the row before us got a refreshing towel and a small bottle of water ahead of the normal service from the maitre de cabine, which is part of the Hon treatment by Swiss as I have noticed this a few times in the past.

Flight time passed quickly and we touched down at Zurich Kloten at 20:51 and taxied for our gate at the A Terminal, where we arrived at 20:56 slightly ahead of time. We walked to the Swiss Star Gold / Senator Lounge in the main terminal where we had arranged to meet with the other members of our group arriving from Hannover and Berlin.

Top

next flight