Grand celebration in Hong Kong marks arrival of Swiss International Air Lines new Airbus A340-300

The entire Swiss International Air Lines team in Hong Kong welcomed more than 100 loyal Swiss clients to a lavish celebration at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong to celebrate the arrival of the new Airbus A340-300 which begins regular flights between Hong Kong and Zurich from Sunday 14th December.

Acknowledging the landmark event, SWISS Regional Manager, Hansueli Meili, promised that sleeper seats in Swiss Business, the largest individual screens in the air for Swiss Economy and other major improvements would be sure to make the flying experience more comfortable.

"The new environmentally friendly aircraft are state-of-the-art in terms of inflight comfort, inflight entertainment and operating economics," he noted.

"The new SWISS Business features a more generous seat pitch and practical details, such as storage space for shoes, bottled drinks and reading material. We are also sure you will be pleased to learn that the unpopular "middle seat" has been abolished.

"Meanwhile SWISS Economy represents good quality at a fair price, with the largest individual screens in the sky in a similar class, and an increased seat pitch. Up the front of the aircraft in SWISS First, the seats have been further improved and can now be converted into a completely flat bed," Mr Meili said, adding. "….and of course, our inflight cuisine and service in all classes will continue to be among the best in the world,".

Furthermore, with the airline's new Inflight Entertainment System, all passengers have the possibility of calling up films on demand. There are also video games and an SMS service, with which passengers can send short-text messages to all types of mobile phones, fax or to e-mail addresses world-wide.

SWISS is to join the oneworld alliance in early 2004.