By the end of 2027, Switzerland's flag carrier will fly its final four-engine long-haul flight. SWISS International Air Lines is retiring its remaining four Airbus A340-300s, closing a chapter that began in 2004 when the type arrived to help rebuild the airline after Swissair's dramatic 2001 collapse. The very first airframe, HB-JMH, won't be scrapped — it will go to the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, parked beside a Swissair Convair 990 as a walk-through history of Swiss long-haul flying.

The retirement was originally set for 2024-2025, but late deliveries of the A350-900s and 787-9s meant to replace the quadjets kept them flying two years longer than planned. For now, the four survivors operate from Zurich on routes including Shanghai and Johannesburg. Services to Calgary, Halifax and Vancouver have already switched to the A350, and the rest will follow as new deliveries land through 2027.

It's part of a much bigger shift across the Lufthansa Group, which owns SWISS. Lufthansa mainline retires its A340-600s in October 2026, its 747-400s in 2027 and its A340-300s by 2028, while Swiss leisure carrier Edelweiss is swapping its five A340s for six A350s. Roughly 25 A340s across the group will disappear within about two years. Lufthansa is also the only airline in the world flying all five quadjet types Boeing and Airbus ever built, and even it is keeping just two — the 747-8 and the A380 — into the next decade.

Why does this matter for a holidaymaker? Partly nostalgia: 2026 is the last full year to catch a SWISS A340 in regular service, and aviation watchers are targeting Zurich departures to Shanghai and Johannesburg before they're gone. Partly comfort: the replacements are better for passengers. The A350 burns roughly 25-30% less fuel per seat than the A340, and its cabin has a lower altitude, higher humidity and bigger windows. SWISS is rolling out its new "SWISS Senses" interiors too, starting with retrofitted A330-300s, so long-haul flights from Zurich will feel noticeably fresher over the next couple of years.

There's history in the ending, too. Swissair — nicknamed "the Flying Bank" — grounded its entire fleet on 2 October 2001 after running out of money, stranding thousands of passengers in what the Swiss still call "the Grounding." SWISS was founded in 2002 to pick up the pieces, ordered nine A340s, and used them as the backbone of a rebuilt intercontinental network reaching North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Lufthansa's 2005 takeover secured the airline's future. By late 2027, SWISS will operate an all-twin-engine widebody fleet of A350-900s, 777-300ERs and refreshed A330-300s — the first time in its history without a single four-engine aircraft.

If you've always meant to fly one, book soon: the window is closing fast, and Zurich is where it all began.