Making The First One a Special One – SWISS Presents a Special Livery for its First A350-900

Written by

Alex Achille

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The imminent entry into service of its very first Airbus A350-900 is a big deal for SWISS. The Helvetic national carrier will soon receive its very first Airbus A350 and it plans to do so in style with a very special and unique livery. So let’s find out exactly what makes this soon to arrive Airbus A350 so special.

Table of Contents

A Livery To Celebrate Switzerland and Its Iconic Landmarks

SWISS clearly wants to celebrate the arrival of its first Airbus A350 in style. The best way for an airline to do such a thing is to create a custom made, unique, special livery. Something that will turn some heads in any airport the aircraft lands at and that, most importantly, tells a story about the country the airline represents around the world.

SWISS Airbus A350-900 Wanderlust special livery side profile sunset
The first SWISS Airbus A350-900 sporting the unique “Wanderlust” livery, designed to represent a “flying art gallery” of Swiss landmarks.

The idea is a very cute one that maintains doesn’t push SWISS too far adrift from its usual very sober stile. Just to be clear, SWISS isn’t the type of airline you’ll ever see don a Pokemon livery. Its identity is more classic, sober and corporate oriented. Even with this special livery, the look and feel the aircraft will be perfectly in line with the SWISS concept.

The whole idea behind the special “wanderlust” livery is to represent the most iconic landmarks in Switzerland’s largest cities in artistic paintings applied to the A350’s classic white and red SWISS livery. The paintings, commissioned to Swiss artist Frédéric Siegel, create a certain movement and flow. The airline cleverly defined this as the first ever flying art gallery.

Detail view SWISS A350-900 fuselage artwork Frédéric Siegel design
A close-up of the intricate fuselage artwork by Frédéric Siegel. The design features iconic locations like the Chapel Bridge and the Matterhorn, blending into the classic SWISS red and white.
A close-up view of SWISS's new Airbus A350-900 special livery from the starboard (right) side, flying above the Swiss Alps. The white aircraft features prominent red "SWISS" lettering and decorative illustrations highlighted in red boxes representing three Swiss cities: Zurich (showcasing the city's Grossmà¼nster cathedral and urban landmarks), Montreux (depicting the famous Freddie Mercury statue and Chillon Castle), and Lucerne (featuring the Chapel Bridge and paddle steamer). On the engine nacelle, there's a red marmot illustration, symbolizing the Alpine wildlife. This "flying art gallery" livery, created by Swiss artist Frédéric Siegel, celebrates Switzerland's most iconic landmarks as part of the airline's commemorative design for their first A350 aircraft. Snow-capped mountain peaks and fluffy white clouds are visible below the aircraft.

In detail the images represent:

  • Basel‘s Messe Basel exhibition buildings along with the city’s Tinguely Fountain and its Rhine River ferry.
  • Bern‘s Federal Parliament Building and the city’s famous bears and the local ‘Bà¶à¶tle’ tradition on its Aare River. (the only one not visible in the images).
  • Geneva‘s United Nations building and its Jet d’Eau fountain.
  • Locarno‘ Piazza Grande and the Golden Leopard, which is awarded to the best film at the city’s film festival.
  • Lucerne‘s Mount Pilatus cable car, the Swiss Transport Museum and a paddle steamer, Europe’s longest covered wooden bridge, the iconic Chapel Bridge.
  • Montreux‘s famous statue of Freddie Mercury, the impressive Chillon Castle and the world-renowned Montreux Jazz Festival.
  • St. Moritz‘s horse racing on frozen Lake St. Moritz and the Engadine resort.
  • Wengen‘s Schilthorn cable car and the nearby Lauterbrunnen Valley along with the Lauberhorn races part of the World Cup skiing calendar.
  • Zurich‘s Bahnhofstrasse, Prime Tower, the city’s Grossmà¼nster cathedral and its Guardian Angel statue by Niki de Saint Phalle.

Along with all of this a marmot is on one of the engines, a much-loved emblem of the alpine world.

Why The Airbus A350 is a Big Deal For SWISS and Its Fleet

The Airbus A350 is of major and strategic importance for SWISS. The European airline has an aging long haul fleet and direly needs to up its game to remain an attractive proposition while also remaining recognizable as one of the most premium oriented carriers too.

SWISS to this day operates a long-range capable fleet which still includes some rater outdated A340s and A330s. The A350 will raise the airline’s overall product quality standards by replacing these older planes. It will also become the backbone of the long-haul operations along side the flagship Boeing 777-300ERs.

SWISS Airbus A340-300 HB-JMB takeoff Zurich Airport ZRH
A SWISS Airbus A340-300 (HB-JMB) departs Zurich. These gas-guzzling quad-jets are the primary targets for replacement by the more efficient A350-900.

The cabin configuration chosen for the aircraft type quite clearly indicates it will be a replacement for the A340s as it includes first class suites. That aside, SWISS is looking to include the largest Premium Economy cabin of its fleet on these new planes. Just to freshen up on some older news, the new SWISS Airbus A350s will come with a very premium heavy:

  • 3 First Class Suites
  • 45 Business Class seats
  • 38 Premium Economy seats
  • 156 Economy Class seats

Where Might the New Aircraft Fly To Once in Service?

The aircraft might be initially used for some short and medium haul flights. This is quite common among airlines in order to get crews accustomed to the new aircraft type. However, after that onboarding phase the most intuitive destinations the airline could use the aircraft on are those currently served by the much more fuel hungry A340-300.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the A350s gradually replace all the quad-jet routes. That includes routes such as:

  • Zurich – Seoul
  • Zurich – Johannesburg
  • Zurich – Mumbai
  • Zurich – Shanghai
Map of planned SWISS A350 routes Zurich to Shanghai Seoul Mumbai Johannesburg
The likely initial long-haul network for the SWISS A350, taking over key ex-A340 routes to Shanghai (PVG), Seoul (ICN), Mumbai (BOM), and Johannesburg (JNB).

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Alex Achille

Ex Emirates Cabin Crew and long time aviation enthusiast. I can remember loving aviation and planes since I was a very little boy. I have developed my passion into a deep knowledge of the sector and industry to offer on my sites in depth and precise analyses of what is going on. I also completed cabin crew training with Ryanair, however, I never worked for the company (more on that another time). Finally I also have taken flying lessons completing my first solo flights.