Exclusive: SWISS Senses Business And Senses First Class Reveal

After years of delays, drama, and one of the most shambolic product rollouts in recent aviation history ( looking squarely at you Lufthansa) , SWISS has quietly stepped forward with it’s own launch and aptly needed re-branding: Senses Business Class and Senses First Class.

I had the chance to experience both products in real life this week, and these new cabins are absolutely gorgeous!

This debut forms part of the Lufthansa Group’s 2.5 billion Euro investment into modernising its premium offering across the Star Alliance family. While Lufthansa was busy tripping over its own hype, SWISS took a more grounded route: under-promise, over-deliver, and put a uniquely Swiss touch on an otherwise shared platform.

So the question on everyone’s mind: are these cabins genuinely modern, state-of-the-art, and worth the buzz? Let’s find out.

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Catching the First SWISS A350

SWISS currently has just one A350 delivered, and it’s being used for short European crew-familiarisation flights, standard practice when introducing a new aircraft type.

I skipped the inaugural flight (too much risk of an equipment swap) and booked a rotation a week later.

The aircraft wears a special “Wanderlust” livery to mark the occasion ..

It bears the registration HB-IFA

Flight Details
Route: Palma → Zurich
Flight: LX 2151
Cabin: Business Class
Seat: 9A

SWISS is operating these initial rotations to Palma, Malaga, Prague, and Hannover. Prague has the most frequencies, but flights are under an hour, too short to properly explore the cabin. Palma/Malaga gives you the most time onboard to explore.

Despite being a short hop, this flight was over 90% full in Business Class, with First Class blocked off for HON Circle members.

My seat, 9A turned out to be a strong choice.

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A Closer Look at the New Cabin

Senses Business Class, Very Swiss

If you’ve followed the Allegris saga, the shell will look familiar.

SWISS shares the underlying seat platforms with Lufthansa, using seven different seat types across the cabin, an unusually fragmented approach involving Collins Aerospace, Stelia, and Thompson…

Thankfully, SWISS simplified the marketing into five categories, making it easier for passengers to choose.

The cabin itself looks great, warm, understated, and distinctly Swiss, with deep reds and soft lighting.

The use of wood panels throughout the cabin retains what is now also a signature SWISS choice of material.

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1. Business Plus Suite (Rows 2 & 8)

This is the crown jewel of the Business cabin:

These Suites feature:

• Full-height doors

• 24″ OLED screens

• Proper wardrobe

• Ample storage

• A personal drinks cooler

There are 8 in total, and they’re priced accordingly: to/from Boston, these seats cost an extra 575 CHF to select.

With a full cabin, I didn’t get to explore them as much as I hoped.

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2. Extra Space Seat

This is the modernised take on the old “throne seat.”

• Massive side consoles on both sides

• 24″ screen

• Lots of surface/storage

SWISS charges 185 CHF extra for these.

My take? They feel surprisingly boxed in due to the narrow entryway. Some will love the space; others will find it claustrophobic.

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3. Privacy Seat (My Seat: 9A)

These are the true window seats, and likely the sweet spot for most solo travellers. Most also feature two full clear windows..

• Great seclusion thanks to the side console

• Good shielding from aisle traffic

• Comfortable and well-balanced layout

I would say row 9 provides even more sense of privacy due to the high walls of the Suites so no chance of seeing heads poking up in front of you !

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4. Extra-Long Bed Seats (4G & 6D etc)

A quirk of the throne-console layout creates two seats with significantly more bed length.
If you’re over 6’5″, these may be the ones to hunt down.

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5. Classic Seat

These are the aisle-facing window-side seats. Standard but comfortable and deemed to be the standard offering.

The good news is, SWISS (for now) charges nothing extra beyond standard seat selection rights for the last 3 seat types.

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Common Features Across All Business Seats

Here’s where SWISS genuinely moves things forward:

• Revolutionary seat temperature control — heat or cool your seat

• Individual air nozzles

• Seat firmness adjustment

• 4K 17.4″ OLED screens

• Wireless charging & Bluetooth audio

• Dedicated reading lamp with 3 brightness settings

• 2m lie-flat bed & 21.5″ width

• Universal power & USB A/C

The heating/cooling feature is a standout—few airlines are even close to this level of personalisation.

Something else I forgot to capture properly in pictures but can see my YouTube video is for my seat at least, the tray table is one of the biggest/longest I have ever seen on an aircraft !

It was akin to something coming out of a Tardis, it just went on and on ! The picture below show only half of the table extended out..

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Senses First Class – Ultra-Luxe, Ultra-Rare

Walking into the First Cabin surely felt like walking into something special.

SWISS has gone from 8 First Class seats to just 3. This makes an already exclusive cabin even more elusive.

Designed in collaboration with PriestmanGoode, the Senses First cabin draws inspiration from Swiss landscapes and architecture: refined, calm, stylish without being showy.

There are three suite types:

Single Window Suites (1A & 1K)

• 33″ wide seat

• 2m bed

• 32″ 4K OLED screen

• Heating/cooling seats

• Large ottoman (buddy dining seat)

• Full-height sliding doors (light but elegant)

• Carry-on storage under the ottoman

• Beautiful Swiss lamp & cocktail tray

Double Suite (Middle 1E)

This is the standout and arguably one of the largest suite in the sky:

• 48″ total width, 24″ each side

• Two independent seats

• 43″ 4K OLED screens (largest onboard any commercial aircraft)

• Space for two full-sized carry-ons

• 3.7 sqm of floor space

Solo travellers may find it almost too big to be practical. You will most likely just use of the chairs for lounging – that is already plenty of space. It is in bed mode, where the full double width may be appreciated more.

Here’s me in the double Suite, I could not even capture the whole width of the Suite properly without using the wide angle of the main camara !

Grand Suite Option

A group of three can reserve 1A + the Double Suite for a private mini-apartment in the sky. A niche use case, but undeniably cool.

SWISS Senses Rollout Plan

SWISS has 10 A350 on the order books which will be delivered through to 2027.

SWISS also plans to retrofit it’s existing A330 & 777s aircraft from 2026. The A340 will officially be retired in the next few years.

I am surprised to see SWISS retaining the A330’s – which are already proving difficult to retrofit due to the sheer weight of this First Class product, which means the aircraft needs rebalancing by way of adding extra dead weight at the back of the aircraft to maintain the centre of gravity.

This sounds an awfully inefficient way to retrofit an old aircraft ! Could SWISS have ordered some A330Neo or maybe further A350-900 to replace some of the 330s?

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Availability & Pricing

SWISS First Class was never really an option to book with miles. Award space has been restricted for years, and with only three seats now, don’t expect that to change.

Cash fares to Boston run 5,000–6,000 CHF one-way, roughly double Business Class. That’s in line with SWISS’s historic F pricing, though demand could inflate these further once the product enters long-haul service throughout the network and First Class footprint reduces overall.

Overall Thoughts

SWISS has done an impressive job carving out its own identity from a chaotic Lufthansa Allegris launch, where the initial A350s with the Business product installed did not have the First Class but an empty space instead of it !

The hardware is modern, thoughtful, and in many places—industry-leading.

The real test will be the soft product, with SWISS promising:

• Enhanced 5-course dining

• New amenity kits

• Mattress pads and sleep shirts on night flights

• Full rollout of the Senses soft experience by late 2025 / early 2026

I’m optimistic. SWISS needed a leap forward, and this feels like one.

But is this product revolutionary?

If SWISS had launched this 6–7 years ago, the answer would be “almost.” In 2025, full suites in Business Class are no longer ground-breaking—they’re rapidly becoming the norm. On that front, SWISS (and Lufthansa) are introducing a product that is already playing catch-up in terms of overall concept.

With the vast majority of Business Class seats not being a Suite – this product could easily look very dated in 5/6 years time!

Where they do push the envelope is in the technology: the heating/cooling seat function is genuinely novel, and personalisation is clearly the next frontier in premium cabins. Will these features stand the test of time and reliability? That remains to be seen, and history tells us not every new innovation survives first contact with daily operations.

Still, this is a confident step forward for SWISS. Now it’s all about execution in long-haul service over the coming months.

This was a very short flight, and many photos didn’t turn out well, but I’ve put together a full walkthrough on my new YouTube channel. You can watch it here:

👉 https://youtu.be/c1Dxml6x_J0?si=9F-1GQZVY-omLab5