Swiss leisure airline Edelweiss will Procure LATAM's Airbus A350-900 to Phase out Its A340-300 long-haul Fleet.

• Six Airbus A350-900s to be added to the fleet of Edelweiss from 2025.
• The first Airbus A350-900 in Edelweiss design will arrive in Zurich in the summer of 2025 and will be used on the entire Edelweiss long-haul network.
• This includes over 20 holiday destinations in North, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean.

Aiming a fleet phase out of the Airbus A340-300 long-haul aircraft by December 2026 , Edelweiss is procuring six highly efficient and low-emission Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The extra wide body aircraft will join the Edelweiss fleet in a staggered manner from summer 2025.

Edelweiss CEO Bernd Bauer said,

"The modernisation of the long-haul fleet is a milestone in the almost 30-year history of Edelweiss. Edelweiss will thus operate one of the youngest long-haul fleets in Europe from 2026."

The aircraft are not brand new from the Airbus facility , rather are a part of the fleet of LATAM Airlines at present. The aircraft will initially have 339 seats and offer the proven Edelweiss comfort in all classes :

• 246 seats in Economy Class,
• 63 seats in Economy Max with more legroom and a wider tilt angle and
• 30 seats in Business Class, which can be converted into a flat bed.

Edelweiss believes that the passengers will benefit from one of the most modern in-flight entertainment systems with large, high-resolution screens and USB power supply at every seat. Guests in Business Class can even enjoy the films and series on a 19-inch screen.

The 14,350 km range of Airbus A350-900 will allow new holiday destinations to be connected directly to Switzerland in the future , as per Edelweiss. 

Edelweiss also says that the spacious airspace cabin of the Airbus A350-900 has wide aisles and large-capacity luggage racks. Thanks to the modern cabin, the aircraft also has a very quiet passenger compartment, which contributes to significantly better travel comfort. Edelweiss guests will also appreciate the better air quality in the future.

Configuration Change ?

Edelweiss is not making much changes to the existing LATAM configuration of the cabin. They mainly blame it to the logistical and maintenance challenges present in the Aviation industry at the moment.

Due to global material shortages and reduced maintenance and engineering capacities, the first four aircraft will initially be operated in the configuration of the original operator with slight modifications to the cabin and in the Edelweiss design.

Edelweiss will install a completely new cabin configuration with new seats and a new interior design at a later date. This will significantly increase the comfort and travel experience for all guests. Edelweiss is investing a three-digit million sum in this project.

Source : Edelweiss