Zurich-based leisure airline Edelweiss is finally giving its Airbus A350s a proper interior. The SWISS subsidiary picked up six A350-900s second-hand from LATAM and has been flying them with the old seating while it prepared a full retrofit. Now the details are out, tickets are on sale, and the first upgraded plane is due to carry passengers from early June 2027.
The headline change is business class. Edelweiss is moving from its current setup to a 1-2-1 layout, meaning every passenger gets direct aisle access for the first time. The seat appears to be the Thompson Aero Vantage XL — the same family of seat used by ITA Airways and Virgin Atlantic — though without doors. Row one gets the upgrade treatment: the new Edelweiss Business Suite, with privacy doors, a bigger 32-inch screen and a larger footwell.
Premium economy is new to the aircraft too, in a 2-3-2 layout with hard-shell seats similar to other Lufthansa Group carriers. Perks include a welcome drink, meals served on china with a tablecloth, alcoholic drinks and noise-cancelling headphones. Economy drops to a standard 3-3-3 A350 layout but gains roughly three centimetres of extra legroom and a greater seat tilt.
Technology is getting a serious refresh across every cabin: free Starlink Wi-Fi (part of a broader Lufthansa Group push), 4K screens with Bluetooth audio, over 400 movies and shows, a 3D moving map, an external camera, wireless charging up front, and USB-A and USB-C ports delivering 60 watts throughout the plane.
The new configuration totals 319 seats — 32 business, 28 premium economy and 259 economy — versus 339 on the current planes, with the extra space going to the premium cabins. Design-wise, expect a calmer, blue-dominated palette echoing the airline's new red-wave livery, with what the airline calls nods to contemporary Swiss architecture.
The rollout is unusually quick. The first refitted aircraft enters service in early June 2027, and all six should be done by early October 2027 — a four-month project running right through peak summer. Early routes guaranteed to have the new cabins include Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar in Tanzania, Windhoek in Namibia and Halifax in Canada.
For travellers, this matters because Edelweiss has long been the budget-conscious way to fly Swiss to long-haul leisure spots, but its old business class lagged well behind the rest of Lufthansa Group. From mid-2027 you'll get direct aisle access, doors on row one and Starlink connectivity on routes to East Africa, southern Africa and Atlantic Canada — often at fares well below the flagship carriers. If you're booking a 2027 safari or Zanzibar beach trip, it's worth timing your flights for after June to land the new cabin.
Original source: One Mile at a Time