2022.04 Amsterdam weekend, Keukenhof and Rijksmuseum Part 2 – Zurich Airport and Swiss flight
We had four hours between our flights, which was more than enough for us to check out Zurich airport, and a lounge before our short flight to Amsterdam.
Connecting at Zurich
Zurich is a well organized airport. Our flight arrived at the satellite terminal, that is only accessible by train. It is easily found by taking the escalators down from the main concourse. The wait for the train is minimal, and the ride itself is maybe a few minutes.
Once arriving at the main terminal, first up is passport control. Given our timing of travel, we arrived to be the only non-EU passport holders. The sole officer gladly reviewed our passports, paperwork and had time to joke to us about our face masks (that were required on the flight) saying “You don’t need those here.”
With the passport stamped we entered the main terminal and could tell from the duty free store we were definitely in Switzerland:
As well, many food options were available to those travelling through the terminal as now we were in the Schengen section of the airport:
Being my first time to take in the airport, the layout of the airport felt like a mall that happened to have gates to board. After walking about the terminal, we looked up for our lounge options — we were in economy for our Swiss flight and couldn’t access their lounge, however there were two contract lounges available.
More views of the main shopping concourse of Zurich airport.
The two lounges were upstairs, although we selected the one that had an interior view into the terminal, we chose it, as the other one had more contemporary furniture that didn’t look comfortable. We went for comfort.
Lounge
Honestly, I cannot recall the name of the lounge that we visited, however there was plenty of space for us to sit and relax before our connecting flight.
We arrived in which breakfast was available (I forgot to take pictures of the spread at breakfast), with the selection being a collection of fruit, breads, cereals, and beverages on offer.
Around 10:45-11am the food was removed and lunch was made available. Here the hot options were two varieties of soup. Here is a picture of the main buffet area. On the right are the soups available, left are salads. On the far side was the bread assortment.
Here were the salads available, coleslaw, potato, garden, and corn.
Opposite the windows was the beverage area with non-alcoholic, and alcoholic beverages available for self serve. (I missed the coffee machine in the picture)
After a few snacks, and a chance to rehydrate after our flight it was time for our flight to Amsterdam.
Flight, Zurich to Amsterdam
Plane: LX728
Seats: (Can’t recall, but we got emergency exit row seats)
Scheduled Departure: 12:30
Scheduled Arrival: 14:10
Although a gate had been assigned, the area of the airport we arrived at was setup for bus gates. Before descending downstairs, the waiting area had a few stores along with a large smoking lounge as well. Only when boarding was about to begin did the screens in the waiting area inform us to travel down the stairs (or elevator) to the gate.
It made sense, as downstairs there was hardly enough room for a plane full of passengers. Quickly we were on a bus to our plane. Upon arrival to the plane, the drizzle gave us incentive to board as quickly as possible. Once on board, I was happy to find out that our seats were emergency exit row seats.
The fellow passengers became to appear familiar as after the 10th or so individual wearing the same team jersey, or coat, or baseball cap we joked to each other that we missed the memo about the dress code. Little Miss then asked one of the passengers and the reply was that there was both a men’s and women’s softball team headed to the Netherlands for a weekend tournament.
Even though we had a short hour flight, the buy on-board selection was quite extensive, and uniquely Swiss with Kirsch, and even a tiny chocolate bunny for Easter! (Slideshow of the menu is below)
With a full plane, the door was close just before 1pm, followed by a welcome message by the Captain, Christian, who apologized for the late arrival and departure. A manual safety demonstration followed by flight attendants and around 1:15pm the plane was in the air headed towards Amsterdam.
Even though the flight was an hour, having a bit of extra leg room was greatly appreciated during the flight. You’ll notice the back of the table tray are the instructions for the emergency window.
Rain in Zurich made it difficult to get any pictures before we took off.
However, once at cruising altitude it was beautiful being above the cloud and grey skies.
Little Miss did try a sample from the onboard menu, Gruyere cheese crackers. The packaging was certainly a big step up from plastic packaging that is very common in North America.
After a short cruise at altitude our descent for Schiphol began. A flight attendant came around with one of the best treats for flying Swiss — Swiss Milk Chocolate!
She was kind enough to let me try a picture of the basket. Our flight landed without issue, and after a very long walk through the terminal we arrived at our baggage carousel and reunited with our luggage for the weekend were off to our hotel for the weekend.
Before we started this flight I did follow the weather forecasts for both Zurich and Amsterdam. The morning we arrived in Zurich, a winter weather warning had been issued for most of Netherlands. Maybe the thickness of the Swiss chocolate of snow had fallen overnight, however it was enough to trigger significant delays at Schiphol — we walked past two very long lines for transfer/connection assistance desks in the terminal. I was happy our flight wasn’t delayed given we only had two full days before returning home.
Explore other parts of this trip:
Part 1 – Air Canada flight Toronto to Zurich
Part 2 – Connection in Zurich, Swiss flight Zurich to Amsterdam (this post!)