Swiss International Air Lines (LX) has deployed its Boeing 777-300ER to Tampa, Florida, to operate on behalf of its leisure subsidiary, Edelweiss Air (WK). Normally, with WK’s rotations to Florida, the Tampa airport is more used to seeing the airline’s Airbus A340.
Upscaling the aircraft to the heroic 777 has made history for the Floridian airport; as for Tampa International Airport (TPA), that is the primary time the aircraft type has had scheduled visits for over 20 years.
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The widebody will head to Tampa in July
Based on data from Flightradar24, the very first rotation for Boeing took place on June thirtieth, pushing back from Zurich Airport (ZRH) at 17:41, 4 hours and 20 minutes behind schedule. Finally, touching down at 20:59 that very same day. Should things go more to plan in the long run, the airline expects to operate this schedule:
- WK4, departing Zurich at 13:30, touching down in Tampa by 17:40 (estimated flight time of ten hours, 20 minutes)
- WK5, getting back from Tampa at 19:35 and arriving home to Zurich at 10:40 the next morning (nine hours and five minutes duration).
Tampa can expect to see the 777 twice weekly, arriving and departing on Wednesdays and Fridays.
A rise in capability for the premium passenger
While the general capability on the route won’t increase substantially, the change of aircraft will improve the general transatlantic offering, with the Swiss aircraft representing quite the rise in capability for premium passengers.
The Edelweiss A340 is ready in a 314-seat configuration, compromising 27 business and 287 economy class seats. While compared, the Swiss Air Lines 777 is home to 320 seats, across 4 different cabins, including eight for first-class, 62 in business, 24 for premium economy, and 226 on the back in economy class.
Nevertheless, there may be a trick to the data above, as Swiss is working the flights for Edelweiss, and the premium economy and first-class seats are on the market. Could lucky passengers be surprised with a free upgrade, or will the cabins remain off-limits? For those trying to read more about Swiss’s business class offering, try our flight review here.
Photo: Markus Mainka / Shutterstock
Other big birds in Tampa
While the deployment of the 777-300ER to Tampa Bay is exciting, it isn’t the one widebody aircraft operating on the airport. Eurowings Discover (4Y) shuttle travelers between Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) and Tampa with a combination of A330-200 and A330-300. At the identical time, Virgin Atlantic (VS) operates its Airbus A330neo from London Gatwick (LGW) alongside its competitor British Airways (BA), which also deploys the Boeing 777-200ER on its path to the Gulf Coast.
Source: Flightradar24.com