31 December 2023
Business Class
Tonight's journey back home to Asia did not get off on the right foot with a lengthy 1h40 delay out of Heathrow to 6:50pm. However, with my Business Class ticket, I spent the extra time exploring 3 lounges in Terminal 2.
My flight's gate number appeared on the screens just past 6pm, and I had to return back to the A gates from United's lounge out in B land. Returning back to the underground walkway, it was a brisk 10 minute walk from B to A.
This walkway is not intended for B to A movements, as all the escalators are turned in the other direction, so to get down and back up to the main gate areas, I had to find an elevator.
The 2 Swiss flights to Zurich were next to each other at gates 17 and 18. The later 6:40pm flight was already boarding by then and there was an announcement at my gate that today's delay is due to the late inbound flight.
As expected, we boarded quite late and I doubted we would make the delayed departure time (6:50pm). Settling into my bulkhead 1A seat at the front, I noted Business Class on these short flights is not so differentiated as the seat is exactly the same as Economy class, although I had the whole row of 3 seats to myself. With a good position up front, I have a better likelihood of making my connection if I need to make a run for it.
Boarding was complete at 7:04pm and at 7:07pm, the captain came out of the cockpit to make his welcome announcement. He explained the plane left Zurich massively late due to a technical problem, and he said the company is aware of our long-haul connections and they would be granted. This was a very professional touch to defuse an emerging stressful situation.
The crew came by to distribute a packaged towel and a small bottle of water.
We then pushed back a minute after, 2 hours late, and with a flight time of 1h15, my 2h40 connection in Zurich looked in danger now. I don't have time to go out to Laderach or visit the lounge anymore.
We eventually took off towards the west at 7:23pm for the short flight to Zurich, looping around and quickly disappearing into the clouds.
The crew sprang into action quickly, with a friendly gentleman coming to take our dinner orders, addressing me by name. A cold salmon dish was on offer, done in 3 different ways with a surprisingly delicious sweet cream. Staff also came by a few times to offer bread, drinks, and chocolates to make sure we were well taken care of. My green tea arrived piping hot. Impressive!
I only didn't finish the cheese with hopes that I could still grab a bite from the Zurich lounge after this flight!
The A321neo plane looked new and the flight was smooth most of the way. I felt the descent start at 9:03pm Zurich time with 37 more minutes to go. However, as we neared Zurich, I noticed we made a long loop and the arrival time ticked up slowly. We passed over the city and continued east to loop back again to land at 9:52pm. There were plenty of fireworks being set off around the city even though midnight was still far away, with some quite close to the landing flight path.
Knowing we had connections in Zurich, the crew made an announcement for us to pay attention to the screens, and my Hong Kong flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30pm.
Zurich was bright and ready to celebrate New Year!
I suppose 40 minutes is enough for a small airport like Zurich, but I darted out the door as the first one off the plane on the dot at 10pm. We luckily parked at the E gates and the next flight also left out of here. There was a staff at the gate's counter who sat hi from behind it but otherwise we were not met by anyone from the airline to escort us to our next flights.
UK arrivals are not subject to additional security screening for our connections, which is different than my inbound flight from Hong Kong connecting to London 2 weeks ago. Hence, I was already back in the departures zone and within a few minutes, I reached gate E42 with a huge crowd waiting to board my next flight to Hong Kong. I guess there is no need for a personal escort from gate to gate after all.
