Swiss leisure carrier Edelweiss, which is part of the Lufthansa Group, has received its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
The aircraft (registration HB-IHF) was picked up by an Edelweiss crew at Tarbes-Lourdes- Pyrénées Airport (LDE), where it has been stored since 2020.
The aircraft has subsequently been flown to the airline’s main base at Zürich-Kloten Airport (ZRH), where it arrived at 15:11 local time on March 13, 2025. Its entry into regular service will commence on April 1, 2025.
At first, Edelweiss plans to deploy the aircraft for a number of weeks on familiarization flights on its short and medium-haul network. The A350-900 will not be used on a commercial long-haul route until May 2025 when it will fly between Zürich and Las Vegas (LAS).
This aircraft is the first of six, previously operated by LATAM Airlines, which the Swiss airline will use to replace its ageing A340-300 fleet.
Although primarily operating in the charter and leisure market, Edelweiss operates its long-haul fleet in a three-class configuration, with a Business, Economy Max (the carrier’s premium economy product) and an Economy class cabin.
In the case of the A350-900, Edelweiss has opted to keep the cabin configuration of the previous operator, LATAM Airlines, on the first four A350s it will receive. The aircraft are fitted with a total of 339 seats: 30 in Business, 63 in Economy Max and 246 in Economy class.
However, the Swiss airline has already announced its intention to refurbish the cabin of these aircraft at a later date to fit them with its own customized interior.
The carrier’s sister company, SWISS, also part of the Lufthansa Group, will also receive its first A350-900 later this year, at an unconfirmed date towards the summer. In early March 2025, SWISS revealed that it will paint this first A350-900 with a special livery called “SWISS Wanderlust” which will feature a rich iconography inspired in the airline’s home country of Switzerland.
