Flying with the Competition 😕: SWISS & Edelweiss, Málaga to Cyprus

The short version: on 24 October I needed to get from Málaga to Cyprus faster than my Qatar Airways routing via Doha allowed, so I did something I had not done in three years: I booked Lufthansa Group. SWISS to Zurich on a young A321neo, an hour in the SWISS lounge, then Edelweiss to Larnaca on a 27-year-old A320 called "Blüemlisalp". No lie-flat seats and no Gulf-style pampering, but friendly crews, a properly good pre-ordered meal and the best bread I have had in months. 4 out of 5, and an apology of sorts is owed.

Why I avoided them for three years

Star Alliance is not usually on my plate. I live in Cyprus, I collect Avios, and oneworld simply fits my life. But the Lufthansa Group dominates Central Europe, and three years ago it gave me a trip I have not forgotten.

It started with a SWISS delay. The delay made me miss my connection, SWISS downgraded me, and the rebooking put me on an overcrowded SWISS flight to Palma de Mallorca. For readers who are not German: we half-jokingly call Mallorca Germany's 17th federal state, the party island, and an economy seat wedged between party tourists was not what I had paid for. From Palma, another connection on Air Europa finally got me home. The journey took 19 hours instead of 6.

The delay, the missed connection and the downgrade were all SWISS. When my claim for the €600 EU compensation was rejected and dragged on for months, I handed it to Flightright, and they got me my money. In my experience, Lufthansa Group counts on passengers giving up on a €600 claim. I didn't. The downgrade I never even bothered to claim for. My real answer was simpler: over the last three years, thousands of euros of my travel budget went to oneworld, and not a single cent to Lufthansa Group. Their loss, and I am not the only one. In a market where demand is not endless, you can only treat customers badly for so long.

Málaga to Zurich: SWISS, A321neo

Three years later, I gave them another chance. Before the flight I waited in the Sala VIP at Málaga airport, then walked out to a SWISS A321neo that was still young enough to look new.

The aircraft was the first pleasant surprise. The new-generation engines make the A321neo very quiet, the cabin pressure felt comfortable and the air was not as dry as I remember from older jets. The cabin felt open and clean. The crew was a mix of German, Swiss and Eastern European, and the service was extremely Swiss in the best sense: precise, unhurried and friendly. This is European business class: a regular seat with more space around it, not a bed. I did not expect one, and on a flight of about two and a half hours I did not miss it.

The real highlight was the meal. SWISS lets you pre-select from eight different meals before the flight, and my choice was really, really good: a warm main with rösti and vegetables, Swiss cheese, a starter and dessert, served on a proper tray with a glass of white wine and olive crackers. This is how short-haul catering should feel.

We landed in Zurich on time.

One hour in the SWISS Lounge D

My connection left from the D gates, so I spent my hour in the SWISS lounge there: calm, modern, with a view over the apron and a glass of white wine. Nothing spectacular, and nothing missing.

Zurich to Larnaca: Edelweiss and the "Blüemlisalp"

Edelweiss is the younger sibling in the group, the one who gets the hand-me-downs. My aircraft proved the point: an A320 delivered to Edelweiss in February 1999, a genuine museum piece, carrying the lovely name "Blüemlisalp", after a mountain massif in the Bernese Alps whose name means something like "flower alp".

The crew was Swiss through and through, and so was the service: very, very, very Swiss. Precise, unhurried and super friendly and caring. Departure was at 22:20, so the meal was very light: salad, mozzarella and tomato, grilled vegetables and a small dessert.

And then the bread. Real, warmed Swiss bread, with butter. As a German living abroad, this kind of bread is hard to find, and it was the absolute highlight of the day. I had my three glasses of white wine, wrapped myself in the pillow and blanket provided, and fell into a deep sleep. We landed in Larnaca at 2:50 in the morning.

The verdict

Thank you, SWISS and Edelweiss: this was really good. Friendly crews on both flights, a punctual connection, an excellent pre-ordered meal and that bread. The hardware is what holds it back: on a trip of this length, the competition in the Gulf offers lie-flat seats, and an A320 from 1999 is an A320 from 1999.

Get me some real business class seats, and I will happily fly with you more often again. But living in Cyprus, oneworld is simply easier for me, and I am glad not to depend on Central Europe's quasi-monopoly and its pushy way of doing business. If you want to compare what a trip like this would earn on the other side of the fence, our Avios calculator covers the oneworld programmes.

Flown 24 October 2026: Málaga–Zurich (SWISS, Airbus A321neo) and Zurich–Larnaca (Edelweiss, Airbus A320 HB-IHY "Blüemlisalp"). Opinions are the author's own experience. Photos: Avios Intelligence.