SWISS forced to rebalance A330 aircraft fleet due to heavy first class seats

Premium seats are sometimes referred to as the ‘pointy end’ of the plane. But SWISS has also found it’s the heavy side for some of its aircraft.

The flag carrier of Switzerland has discovered that it will need to do a rebalancing calibration on its fleet of A330-300s because the weight of its new first class seats made the planes nose-heavy.

According to SWI Swissinfo, in order to correct the center of gravity in the affected aircraft, the airline plans to install 1.5 ton (1,500 kilograms) lead weights towards the back of the planes.

A spokesperson for SWISS told CH Media that the current trend in first and business class seats in airlines is enhanced privacy, so premium seats are bigger and installed with more features, resulting in heavier weight.

Added weight to the aircraft will mean more fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. According to the airline, it is still driving towards the achievement of the CO2 target of net zero emissions by 2050 by “implementing a large number of innovative measures”.

The airline also assured that long-haul routes will remain unaffected despite the added weight. 

The new premium seats, called ‘SWISS Senses’, were announced in 2023 for a planned debut of winter of 2025-2026. 

Featuring warm subdued shades of color such as Bordeaux, anthracite and beige, the palette and theme is similar to that of Allegirs, parent company Lufthansa’s new premium class product.

SWISS also enhanced the lights under the new design scheme, claiming that its “human centric lighting” product may help reduce the effects of jet lag.

The new first class seats feature a 117 cm seat width (middle suite), 77 cm seat width (window suite), a two-meter lie flat bed, along with seat heating and cooling function.